The SNP has challenged to admit whether he is
preparing to send UK troops on the ground in the Middle East -
after the Prime Minister failed to rule it out earlier this
week.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, MP said "urgent clarity and
transparency is required" - warning the public are "gravely
concerned about the implications of such a decision".
The SNP Westminster Leader demanded a vote before any decision to
deploy UK troops - telling Mr Sunak "MPs need to vote before a
single UK military boot sets foot on Middle Eastern soil".
It comes after refused to answer whether he
was considering deploying UK troops to Gaza in response to at Prime Ministers Questions
on Wednesday.
In his letter, SNP Westminster Leader MP said:
"Dear Prime Minister,
"At Prime Minister's Questions this week you completely avoided
answering two very simple but imminently serious questions:
1. Are you preparing to put UK troops on the ground in the Middle
East?
2. If so, will MPs be given an urgent vote prior to any decision
of that magnitude being taken?
"Your failure to answer questions at PMQs is, unfortunately,
nothing new - however when it comes to a matter as serious and
consequential as military deployment, it is totally unacceptable.
No matter how hard your government may try to avoid it, urgent
clarity and transparency is required on your reported plans to
send UK ground troops to the Middle East.
"These questions aren't going away. It's time you and your
government came clean and answered them – for the sake of those
who serve in the military and the wider public who are gravely
concerned about the implications of such a decision.
"Westminster has a dangerously short memory if it fails to fully
understand the potential implications of sending UK troops into
the Middle East, and fails to consider the reality and the risk
of where such a decision could lead. That history is exactly why
MPs need to vote before a single UK military boot sets foot on
Middle Eastern soil.
"Anyone with any degree of humanity understands the urgent need
for an influx of humanitarian aid into the Gaza strip. But surely
the solution is not sending more soldiers in, the solution is
demanding that Prime Minister Netanyahu finally stops blocking
existing aid routes where civilian organisations already have an
abundance of food, medicine, and humanitarian supplies ready to
help the Palestinian people.
"Urgent clarity is now needed on your plans to send UK troops to
the Middle East, alongside a guarantee that MPs will be given a
vote before any decision is taken.
"I would also reasonably request that an urgent briefing is now
provided to all opposition leaders, given your failure to provide
any answers in the House of Commons earlier.
"Yours sincerely,
"Stephen Flynn MP
SNP Westminster Leader"
