Iraq vote: rebels and abstainers

This afternoon a vote was taken in the House of Commons to approve the use of air strikes (but not ground troops) in Iraq (but not Syria).  This was approved by 524 votes to 43, with the bulk of the Labour Party supporting the Coalition government. Only 23 Labour MPs joined 6 Tories, 1 Lib Dem, plus the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru, SDLP, Green and Respect parties. There were, however, thirty-nine Labour MPs who were either absent or abstained. This does not include the one front bench spokesperson, Rushanara Ali, who resigned after going through both the yes and no lobbies. The full list of rebels and abstainers is below.

The proposition read as follows:

This House

• condemns the barbaric acts of ISIL against the peoples of Iraq including the Sunni, Shia, Kurds, Christians and Yazidi and the humanitarian crisis this is causing;
• recognises the clear threat ISIL poses to the territorial integrity of Iraq and the request from the Government of Iraq for military support from the international community and the specific request to the UK Government for such support;
• further recognises the threat ISIL poses to wider international security and the UK directly through its sponsorship of terrorist attacks and its murder of a British hostage;
• acknowledges the broad coalition contributing to military support of the Government of Iraq including countries throughout the Middle East;
• further acknowledges the request of the Government of Iraq for international support to defend itself against the threat ISIL poses to Iraq and its citizens and the clear legal basis that this provides for action in Iraq;
• notes that this motion does not endorse UK air strikes in Syria as part of this campaign and any proposal to do so would be subject to a separate vote in Parliament;
• accordingly supports Her Majesty’s Government, working with allies, in supporting the Government of Iraq in protecting civilians and restoring its territorial integrity, including the use of UK air strikes to support Iraqi, including Kurdish, security forces’ efforts against ISIL in Iraq;
• notes that Her Majesty’s Government will not deploy UK troops in ground combat operations; and
• offers its wholehearted support to the men and women of Her Majesty’s armed forces.

Opposed

Labour
Abbott, Ms Diane
Ali, Rushanara (also voted yes – a form of active abstention)
Allen, Mr Graham
Begg, Dame Anne
Campbell, Mr Ronnie
Caton, Martin
Clark, Katy
Corbyn, Jeremy (Teller)
Davidson, Mr Ian
Flynn, Paul
Hepburn, Mr Stephen
Hoey, Kate
Hopkins, Kelvin
James, Mrs Siân C.
Lazarowicz, Mark
McDonnell, John
McKenzie, Mr Iain
Mitchell, Austin
Morris, Grahame M. (Easington)
Mudie, Mr George
Riordan, Mrs Linda
Sheerman, Mr Barry
Skinner, Mr Dennis
Stringer, Graham
Wood, Mike

Conservative
Bacon, Mr Richard
Baron, Mr John
Henderson, Gordon
Holloway, Mr Adam
Mills, Nigel
Reckless, Mark

Lib Dem
Huppert, Dr Julian

SDLP
Durkan, Mark
McDonnell, Dr Alasdair
Ritchie, Ms Margaret

SNP
Hosie, Stewart
MacNeil, Mr Angus Brendan
Robertson, Angus
Weir, Mr Mike
Whiteford, Dr Eilidh
Wishart, Pete (Teller)

Plaid Cymru
Edwards, Jonathan
Williams, Hywel

Green
Lucas, Caroline

Respect
Galloway, George

Absent or abstaining Labour MPs

Joe Benton
Ben Bradshaw
Gordon Brown
Chris Bryant
Jenny Chapman
Mike Connarty
Rosie Cooper
Margaret Curran
Nick Dakin
Louise Ellman
Jim Fitzpatrick
Sheila Gilmore
Roger Godsiff
David Hamilton
David Hanson
Stephen Hepburn
Lindsay Hoyle
Alan Johnson
Diana Johnson
Helen Jones

Gerald Kaufman
Barbara Keeley
Ian Lavery
Fiona MacTaggart
Greg McClymont
AnnneMcGuire
Ann McKechin
Graeme Morrice
Ian Murray
Fiona O’Donnel
Dawn Primarolo
Yasmin Qureshi
Steve Rotherham
Frank Roy
Joan Ruddock
Andrew Smith
Jack Straw
Tom Watson
David Winnick