PM Urges MPs To 'Do The Right Thing' On Syria

David Cameron has urged MPs to "do the right thing" and vote for airstrikes in Syria, claiming there is a "compelling case" for military action.

In a reference to the turmoil in the Labour Party, with several shadow cabinet members in open revolt against Jeremy Corbyn's opposition to airstrikes, he urged MPs to "vote on the arguments".

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Speaking in Malta at the start of a three-day summit of Commonwealth leaders, Mr Cameron said: "I believe there is a compelling case to take the effective action to keep our country safe.

"I thought many members of parliament on all sides of the House of Commons yesterday (Thursday) agreed there was a compelling case, so I would urge all of them to vote on the basis of the arguments for effective action on a compelling case to keep our country safe."

And the Prime Minister added: "Vote on those arguments and we can do the right thing."

Mr Cameron said he had come to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting to put extremism on the agenda.

"The Commonwealth is this extraordinary organisation, a third of humanity, countries stretching the globe, half of it under the age of 25," he said.

"So, I think one of the most important things we can do here is talk about the perils of Islamist extremism violence and the problem of extremism more broadly.

"I want to put that on the agenda of the Commonwealth, particularly when you consider how many young people there are in the Commonwealth.

"This is the struggle of our generation and it’s a struggle the Commonwealth should be engaged in."

Mr Cameron also welcomed the attendance in Malta later of French President Francois Hollande, who is coming to Malta to appeal to the 53 Commonwealth leaders to back a deal at the climate change summit in Paris next week.

"It's good that President Hollande is here at the Commonwealth meeting because there is a chance in the run up to the vital Paris conference on climate change to build the momentum for a global deal," said the Prime Minister.

"One of the advantages of the Commonwealth is we have got all of those small island states that are so vulnerable to climate change and if we can bring them on board for a deal that will help them we can then bring the whole world together in Paris and achieve a good climate change deal."

The PM's appeal to MPs to back airstrikes came after pledged £5m over five years for a new Commonwealth unit to counter extremism.

A team of experts will be seconded into a new unit in the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Prime Minister will announce on the opening day of the summit.

"The fight against extremism is something that affects us all," Mr Cameron will say.

"The Commonwealth has a vital role to play in broadening international efforts to counter extremism.

"Its civil society and education networks make it particularly well placed to complement international efforts to build counter narratives to this poisonous extremist ideology.

"This is the struggle of our generation, but by working together we will defeat this extremist scourge that is a threat to us all."

The new unit will support work in all Commonwealth countries, in particular those facing a disproportionately high number of foreign fighters and which might not have adequate counter-extremism resources of their own, including by facilitating technical counter-terrorism expertise.

In conjunction with this new counter-extremism unit, Mr Cameron is also promising £200,000 funding to expand the recently established European counter-radicalisation Youth Network to include all Commonwealth countries.

The newly expanded Youth Network will capitalise on the organisation’s existing networks to support moderate youth voices in countering violent extremist messaging.