17:24 Tuesday 3rd September 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
[C]HRIS MANN: The Foreign Secretary William Hague has been facing questions in the Commons on Syria, in the wake of Parliament’s decision not to take military action. President Obama is to seek authority from the US Congress next week on whether to launch missile strikes. The Foreign Secretary told MPs that any action by the Americans would be to prevent the future use of chemical weapons. (TAPE)
WILLIAM HAGUE: We had our vote last week. The US Congress will have its vote. But President Obama is very clear that any action proposed by the United States would be to deter the further use of chemical weapons. (HUBBUB) And I think we can take him at his word on that, and I’m not going to criticise him for putting that forward. (LIVE)
CHRIS MANN: But the former Labour Minister Joan Ruddock told the Commons she feared the Americans could provoke a wider conflict. (TAPE)
JOAN RUDDOCK: John McCain has said that President Obama has told him that this will not just be a punishment strike, but this will be a wider military action in order to tip the balance towards the opposition. Will he disassociate himself entirely from such sentiments? (LIVE)
CHRIS MANN: David Cameron has repeated that he has no plans to call for a fresh vote in Parliament on military action. Instead he says he’ll push for a diplomatic solution at the G20 Summit of leading countries which is held in Russia later this week. (TAPE)
DAVID CAMERON: Parliament spoke very clearly, and it’s important to respect the view of Parliament. So I’m not planning to return to Parliament to ask again about British military action. That doesn’t mean we do nothing on Syria. We are already the second largest aid donor in delivering the humanitarian aid that is so badly needed, both in Syria, and in the neighbouring countries like Jordan and Turkey. (LIVE)
CHRIS MANN: The UN says at least two million refugees have fled the country. Another five million have been driven from their homes. Justine Greening the International Development Secretary says the world must do more to help. (TAPE)
JUSTINE GREENING: Thirty per cent plus of the Syrian population has been directly affected in terms of either having to leave the homes, or having already left. So we need to make sure that the UN donor appeal, which is about half funded at the moment to deal with this gets fully funded. And that will mean the UK continuing to play our role, but I want to see other countries stepping up to the plate increasingly.
==========