East Devon MP Hugo Swire has reacted to Parliament's decision for Britain to join airstrikes against the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) terrorists in Iraq saying "the idea that Britain is not already involved is frankly fallacious".
Mr Swire, who is also the Minister for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, confirmed to the Echo this morning, along with MP for Tiverton and Honiton Neil Parish, that he backed the Coalition's calls yesterday for Britain to join the fight against IS.
He echoed Prime Minister David Cameron's warning that the terrorists present a "real threat" to Britain.
After a six-and-a-half hour debate, a cross party membership voted 524 to 43, in support of the motion for air strike action in Iraq.
Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw confirmed that he was not present at yesterday's debate due to a longstanding family commitment overseas. MPs who were due to be abroad yesterday were not expected to return as the Government was confident on the outcome of the vote.
However, yesterday Mr Bradshaw issued a statement to the Echo saying it would be "regrettable" if Britain "continued to stand idly by". He confirmed he would have voted in favour of the motion.
The vote cleared the way for RAF Tornado GR4 fighter bombers stationed in Cyprus to begin combat operations as soon as suitable targets are identified. The strikes could happen within hours.
IS has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria in recent months. The group, also known as Isis or Isil, has used brutal tactics that have included beheadings of soldiers, Western journalists and aid workers.
Mr Swire, said: "The debate was very different to the ghosts of 2003 when we first went into Iraq. And talk of that time did not dominate the debate.
"The Prime Minister explained about how the proper legal process has been followed and critically the fact that a number of other Arab states are actively engaged in this and Britain will be joining a coalition of around 60 countries who are involved.
"There was cross party support for the motion.
"The idea that Britain is not already involved is frankly fallacious – British citizens are being executed and there are known threats to mainland UK.
"We're involved whether we like it or not, therefore it's only appropriate that we join the coalition against IS.
"Everything will be done to minimise potential collateral loss to the civilian population.
"This will be precision bombing but the problem is that you can never guarantee because IS operate within communities.
"But these are very very very bad people as we have seen their degradation towards women and violence and beheadings to citizens of Iraq and Syria and from a humanitarian perspective, the population wants them stopped.
"This is not going to be easy and will take some time, but the UK can't stand by."
