Syria gas attack must not go unpunished, says Boris Johnson

 
Reuters
2 September 2013
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

The chemical weapons attack blamed on Bashar Assad’s regime must not go “unpunished”, Boris Johnson warned today.

The Mayor of London also piled pressure on David Cameron to hold a second Commons vote to allow Britain to join military action against Assad’s forces.

Just weeks ago, Mr Johnson told of his “deep anxieties” about the UK getting involved in the Syrian civil war in which at least 100,000 people have died.

However, he said today: “But to use gas for mass murder is a crime that we cannot allow to go unpunished.”

Writing in his Daily Telegraph column, the Mayor added: “It seems overwhelmingly likely that the forces of the Syrian regime have indeed used chemical weapons and killed hundreds of civilians in an act of utter savagery.”

Mr Johnson believes evidence against Assad’s forces may harden and a second Commons vote is “perfectly possible”, despite the dangers to Mr Cameron’s leadership if he lost.

The Mayor spoke out as Barack Obama stepped up his campaign to persuade Congress to support missile strikes on the Syrian regime for crossing his “red line” with the suspected chemical weapons attack last month.

If Mr Obama wins over a sceptical Congress next week, Mr Cameron will face renewed calls for parliament to reconsider its view, a move already suggested by former Tory leader Lord Howard, former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown and ex-foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind.

But deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg stressed: “I can’t foresee any circumstances that we would go back to Parliament on the same question.”

Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt appeared to leave slightly more possibility of a second vote, saying: “You can never say never to anything, if circumstances are different who knows?”

Washington says Sarin gas was used in the attack on the outskirts of the capital Damascus which killed at least 1,429 civilians, including more than 400 children. British spy chiefs have been more cautious over the death toll, saying it is at least 350, and that it is “highly likely” that the regime carried out the attack.

Mr Obama’s decision to seek Congress backing caught the world by surprise and French president Francois Hollande is facing pressure to follow suit.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in