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Nine Tory MPs who did not back Syria strike received Assad's hospitality
3 Sep 2013:
MPs speak of their experiences on trips over past 10 years, and
decisions to abstain or vote against motion for military action
Nine Tory MPs who did not back Syria strike received Assad's hospitality
MPs speak of their experiences on trips over past 10 years, and decisions to abstain or vote against motion for military action
Rowena Mason, political correspondent
David Ruffley said he
had returned from Syria 'with the view that it was a very squalid
military dictatorship that oppressed its people'.
Nine Conservative MPs who did not vote for government plans for launching military action in Syria have received hospitality from the Assad regime over the last 10 years, it has emerged.
They include Sir Richard Shepherd, Crispin Blunt, and David TC Davies, who all voted against the motion for military action. Tim Loughton, a former children's minister, abstained by walking through both lobbies.
Of the others, David Ruffley, Andrew Tyrie, and Andrew Rosindell, did not vote. Alan Duncan, a development minister, did not return from holiday to vote.
The ninth MP was Mark Simmonds, a Foreign Office minister, who said he missed the vote because he did not hear the division bell for the second vote last Thursday. He says he would otherwise have voted with the government.
They were among at least 20 British MPs from the Tory and Labour parties who have declared hospitality received from the Syrian government during trips between 2003 and 2009.
One Tory MP said it was only natural for some of those who were well-acquainted with the country to feel uncomfortable about backing military action that could endanger lives.
Ruffley said: "I visited Syria and returned with the view that it was a very squalid military dictatorship that oppressed its people. I abstained on the vote because it was unclear what level of civilian casualties could be caused by intervention and whether it would provoke conflict beyond Syria's borders."
Davies said most of his trip with a cross-party group of MPs had been paid for by the British Syrian Society; any hospitality in no way influenced his opposition to military action on the country.
He said he had gone at a time when Assad seemed to be looking for a better relationship with the west and was surprisingly happy to meet British MPs. "If I was looking for a stay in a nice hotel, I wouldn't be going to the Middle East," he said. "It wasn't some kind of jolly couple of days of luxury. I don't go to those places for the fun of it. I go to those places to get a better understanding. I think it is important that British MPs go to the Middle East without incurring a cost to the taxpayer. I have been really, really, upfront about the visit, declared it and made it clear."
Blunt said his visit had given him "more confidence" in his assessment of the Syrian situation.
"I was obviously able to distinguish between the interests of the hosts and getting a proper picture." He added that there was no equivalence between his trip to Syria and his no vote.
The MP said he had voted against the motion because he did not think there was a clear link between the military objective and military action to achieve it.
Shepherd said he met Assad through a British Syrian Society trip, and was grateful for the opportunity. He said he came away in no doubt it was an authoritarian regime but that it had also tolerated religious differences.
In a statement on his website, Loughton referred to his trips to Syria in explaining his reasons for abstaining.
He said: "Having visited Syria twice in my role as an MP, and on the last occasion met and had discussions with Assad some four years ago, I have a particular reason for following the Syria situation closely.Despite my knowledge of the country, each time I came away still largely ignorant of who actually runs this very complicated country as it is clearly not just the British-trained and accidental Bashar Assad.
"As such, it is even more essential that a military intervention has a clear objective and endgame, and is workable, and, above all, we know who we are pitting ourselves against and for."
Sources close to Simmonds said of his missed vote: "It had absolutely nothing to do with his trip to Syria. He didn't hear the bell. He was with the secretary of state for international development. Of course he'd have voted with the government."
A spokesman for Duncan said the MP would have voted with the government if he had not been given permission to be absent since he could not return in time.
A spokesman for Rosindell said he was away. Tyrie did not return calls.
They include Sir Richard Shepherd, Crispin Blunt, and David TC Davies, who all voted against the motion for military action. Tim Loughton, a former children's minister, abstained by walking through both lobbies.
Of the others, David Ruffley, Andrew Tyrie, and Andrew Rosindell, did not vote. Alan Duncan, a development minister, did not return from holiday to vote.
The ninth MP was Mark Simmonds, a Foreign Office minister, who said he missed the vote because he did not hear the division bell for the second vote last Thursday. He says he would otherwise have voted with the government.
They were among at least 20 British MPs from the Tory and Labour parties who have declared hospitality received from the Syrian government during trips between 2003 and 2009.
One Tory MP said it was only natural for some of those who were well-acquainted with the country to feel uncomfortable about backing military action that could endanger lives.
Ruffley said: "I visited Syria and returned with the view that it was a very squalid military dictatorship that oppressed its people. I abstained on the vote because it was unclear what level of civilian casualties could be caused by intervention and whether it would provoke conflict beyond Syria's borders."
Davies said most of his trip with a cross-party group of MPs had been paid for by the British Syrian Society; any hospitality in no way influenced his opposition to military action on the country.
He said he had gone at a time when Assad seemed to be looking for a better relationship with the west and was surprisingly happy to meet British MPs. "If I was looking for a stay in a nice hotel, I wouldn't be going to the Middle East," he said. "It wasn't some kind of jolly couple of days of luxury. I don't go to those places for the fun of it. I go to those places to get a better understanding. I think it is important that British MPs go to the Middle East without incurring a cost to the taxpayer. I have been really, really, upfront about the visit, declared it and made it clear."
Blunt said his visit had given him "more confidence" in his assessment of the Syrian situation.
"I was obviously able to distinguish between the interests of the hosts and getting a proper picture." He added that there was no equivalence between his trip to Syria and his no vote.
The MP said he had voted against the motion because he did not think there was a clear link between the military objective and military action to achieve it.
Shepherd said he met Assad through a British Syrian Society trip, and was grateful for the opportunity. He said he came away in no doubt it was an authoritarian regime but that it had also tolerated religious differences.
In a statement on his website, Loughton referred to his trips to Syria in explaining his reasons for abstaining.
He said: "Having visited Syria twice in my role as an MP, and on the last occasion met and had discussions with Assad some four years ago, I have a particular reason for following the Syria situation closely.Despite my knowledge of the country, each time I came away still largely ignorant of who actually runs this very complicated country as it is clearly not just the British-trained and accidental Bashar Assad.
"As such, it is even more essential that a military intervention has a clear objective and endgame, and is workable, and, above all, we know who we are pitting ourselves against and for."
Sources close to Simmonds said of his missed vote: "It had absolutely nothing to do with his trip to Syria. He didn't hear the bell. He was with the secretary of state for international development. Of course he'd have voted with the government."
A spokesman for Duncan said the MP would have voted with the government if he had not been given permission to be absent since he could not return in time.
A spokesman for Rosindell said he was away. Tyrie did not return calls.
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