Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged that MPs would get a vote on the deployment of British soldiers to police any agreement to end the conflict in Ukraine, reported BBC.
He said the move would be consistent with “recent practice” on approving military action in Parliament. It comes after the UK and France reiterated their commitment to deploy troops to deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again if a deal to end the conflict is struck. Starmer did not specified how many British troops could be committed, telling MPs it would be “in accordance with our military plans”.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, he told MPs that in the event of a peace agreement, British personnel would conduct “deterrence operations” and protect new military “hubs” allies are planning in Ukraine.
He did not specify whether a vote would take place before troops are sent, but his press secretary later told reporters that Parliament would have a say ahead of any “long-term deployment” of UK forces.
Parliament does not have a legal role in approving military action, which is formally authorised by the Prime Minister on behalf of the monarch. In recent decades a convention has developed that MPs should have the chance to debate deployments, although the principle has been applied inconsistently.
In 2013, MPs voted against possible UK military action against Syria to deter the use of chemical weapons, with David Cameron becoming the first British leader to lose a vote on military action since the late 18th Century
