There are those who do not believe in a military intervention in Syria for very good and principled reasons. The invasion of Iraq is still at the forefront of many memories and it is right that any action we take in relation to President Assad should be carefully considered.

Last night’s vote had little to do with the issue of chemical weapons and Assad’s use of them though. It had more to do with political opportunism. While Ed Miliband and Labour played politics, the BBC was showing the burned and scarred bodies of the victims of an Assad sanctioned white phosphorus attack in Aleppo.

Miliband had sought assurances from the Prime Minister in the days leading up to last night’s debate and he got them. The motion before the House was not to agree military action and indeed a second vote would have taken place before any British military involvement.

I was sickened to see Labour Members of Parliament shouting and cheering as the result of the vote was announced. Behaving like school children in a playground while over two million refugees are displaced and thousands upon thousands of Syrian people are gassed and murdered.

President Barack Obama is not George Bush. David Cameron is not Tony Blair. There is no plan to invade Syria but to launch some targeted strikes to degrade Assad’s stock of chemicals. Syrian children are being poisoned and burned and last night Labour MPs and some Conservative rebels decided Britain will take no action.