When Andy Burnham appointed Ed Miliband as Foreign Secretary this week, minds immediately went back to the only time in history a parliamentary vote has stopped a Prime Minister from launching military action.
When Miliband defeated David Cameron in the Commons in 2013, the Labour leader prevented the UK from joining the US and France in potential air strikes against Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, after the dictator’s forces attacked rebel-held towns with chemical weapons.
At the time, three quarters of the British public backed Miliband over his decision. He also played a big role in making a hesitant Barack Obama think again. In the end, the then US president never ordered American jets to take off.
Shorts
The Syrian civil war dragged on for another 11 years, however, costing hundreds of thousands of lives. The broken country became a hotbed for Isis, leading to several deadly terrorist attacks on British soil.
