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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Politics
Jon Stone

Dennis Skinner warns against military intervention in Syria's 'crazy war'

Dennis Skinner has warned of the perils of Britain intervening in the Syrian civil war, warning that that situation is "crazy".

The veteran Labour left-winger accused Britain's allies Turkey of aiding Isis by shooting down Russian jets, bombing Kurdish forces, and buying oil from the militant group.

“Isn’t it essential in any prelude to a war to be sure of your allies and be sure of your objectives? Isn’t it a fact that Turkey has been buying oil from Isil, they’ve been bombing the Kurds and the Kurds are fighting Isil, they shot down a Russian jet even though Russia wants to fight Isil," he said.

“He has got an objective to get rid of Assad, our Russian ally has got the opposite objective. What a crazy war. Enemies to the right of us, enemies to the left of us – keep out!”

David Cameron responded that he agreed the UK needed to be clear about who its allies were in the conflict.

The MP mades their comments during a debate about the Government's latest line on the Syrian crisis.

The Government wants to intervene but is unsure it would be able to command a majority vote in the House of Commons to back military action.

It was previously defeated in 2013 when ministers tried to gain support for an attack on the Assad regime in the same conflict.

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