Johnson: We would support US in military action against Assad
BRITAIN would agree to a request from Donald Trump to join military action against the Syrian regime, Boris Johnson revealed today.
The Foreign Secretary also said the Government would be prepared to act without waiting for a vote in the House of Commons if Bashar al-Assad’s forces used illegal chemical weapons.
“I think it will be very difficult if the United States has a proposal to have some sort of action in response to a chemical weapons attack,” he said on BBC radio.
“And if they come to us and ask for our support, whether it’s with submarine-based cruise missiles in the (Mediterranean), or whatever... it would be in my view, and I know this is also the view of the Prime Minister, it would be very difficult for us to say No.”
Asked if MPs would have to approve such action, Mr Johnson told Radio 4: “I think that needs to be tested.” America launched cruise missiles against a Syrian air base three weeks ago amid evidence that Assad’s regime killed scores of people in a sarin-type gas attack on a rebelheld area in Idlib province.
Britain is carrying out air strikes against Islamic State terrorists in Syria and Iraq but has not attacked the Assad regime after David Cameron lost a Commons vote in 2013. Mr Johnson was markedly less warlike over the standoff with North Korea. He appealed for “calm, clear heads” and said military action against Pyongyang was “not the way forward”. He was travelling this afternoon to the United Nations in New York for talks on the nuclear crisis.
President Trump is attempting to ramp up pressure on the regime of Kim Jong-un by deploying an anti-missile system and US troops in exercises.
The chief of the US Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris, told Congress: “All options are on the table. We want to bring Kim Jong-un to his senses, not to his knees.”Mr Johnson said military action could result in “huge and hideous reprisals” against South Korea and believed it was not “likely”. He urged economic pressure instead. “I think the military options are not good,” he
THERESA MAY’s decision to unleash Boris paid off today as he lured Labour into class warfare and led the BBC news by mocking
Jeremy Corbyn as a “mutton-headed old mugwump”.
The obscure insult dominated news coverage of the election this morning, blotting out Labour’s unveiling of a serious promise to build a million new homes.
Labour’s housing spokesman John Healey said the Foreign Secretary had demeaned himself. He told BBC radio: “I think this is Boris Johnson feeling left out of the election campaign and it is the sort of lookat-me name-calling that you would expect in an Eton playground.”
said. “The best way forward ... is to work particularly with Beijing to try to bring pressure on Pyongyang.”
Meanwhile, German chancellor Angela Merkel has warned Britons they are deluding themselves about hanging on to EU perks after Brexit.
Striking a firm tone, she told the Bundestag: “I must say this clearly here because I get the feeling that some people in Britain still have illusions — that would be wasted time.” She also warned that there could be no deal on a future relationship until “questions about its exit have been cleared up” including a financial agreement.