Syria hits out at British “interference” in its affairs
Syria's foreign ministry has hit out at what it describes as British "interference" in its domestic affairs, as Britain appears to be moving closer towards military action in the war-torn country.
Reuters reported that its state news agency SANA said the foreign ministry sent two letters to United Nations chiefs objecting to "brazen standpoints" taken by British officials.
Today Osborne spoke about whether Britain should be considering air strikes against Isil in Syria on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.
"This government took to the House of Commons a couple of years ago a proposal to intervene in Syria and it was rejected. Personally I think it was one of the worst decisions … [parliament] has ever made," he said.
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"We are not going to go back to [parliament] unless we can be sure we'd get a different answer … so we would need to see support across the House of Commons for this action."
Osborne added he thought there was a "strong case" as well as an "argument around coherence" that, if you're tackling Isis in Iraq, you should also be tackling it on the other side or the border in Syria.
The chancellor's comments come after another signal the British government is moving closer to military action in Syria.
"You've got to deal with the problem at its source, which is this evil Assad regime and the Isil terrorists, and you need a comprehensive plan for a more stable, peaceful Syria," he previously said in an interview with Reuters.