Theresa May: "We Are Working Closely With Our Allies On Taking Action"

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has spoken to America's acting secretary of state about the situation in Syria.

A Foreign Office spokesman said:

"The Foreign Secretary spoke to acting US secretary of state John Sullivan this afternoon about Saturday's devastating attack in Douma, Syria. This follows his conversation with French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian this morning.

"The Foreign Secretary and acting secretary of state agreed that, based on current media reports and reports from those on the ground, this attack bore hallmarks of previous chemical weapons attacks by the Assad regime.

"They reiterated their commitment to standing up for the Chemical Weapons Convention and to ensuring that those responsible for this horrific attack are held to account.

"They underlined the importance of the UK, the US, and France remaining in close touch."

Asked during a visit to Sweden if the UK would join any US-led military action in Syria, Prime Minister Theresa May said: "What we are currently doing is working urgently with our allies to assess what has happened here.

"This has been an absolutely barbaric attack that has taken place.

"And, if it is clear that it is the responsibility of the Assad regime, it's yet another example of the callous and brutal way in which he's been treating his people.

"And we are clear that those responsible should be held to account.

"We, as I say, are working urgently with our allies to asses what has happened. But, we are also working with our allies on any action that is necessary."

She added: "Saturday's horrific attack against the people of Douma, among them a number of innocent children, was utterly reprehensible."

Theresa May is under pressure to take action after a suspected poison gas attack in Syria reportedly killed dozens of people, including children.

The Prime Minister was urged to expand Britain's military operations in the region, as defence minister Tobias Ellwood told the Daily Mail the UK "cannot keep turning a blind eye" to the horrors of the conflict.

On Twitter, Mr Ellwood also called for the UN authorities to be allowed to conduct an independent investigation.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in February that Britain should consider joining military action against Assad's regime if there is fresh "incontrovertible" evidence he has used chemical weapons against his own people.

On Sunday he released a statement saying reports of a large scale chemical weapons attack in Douma were "deeply disturbing".

He said: "Despite Russia’s promise in 2013 to ensure Syria would abandon all of its chemical weapons, international investigators mandated by the UN Security Council have found the Assad regime responsible for using poison gas in at least four separate attacks since 2014.

"These latest reports must urgently be investigated and the international community must respond.

"Investigators from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons looking into reports of chemical weapons use in Syria have our full support. Russia must not yet again try to obstruct these investigations.

"Should it be confirmed that the regime has used chemical weapons again, it would be yet another appalling example of the Assad regime’s brutality and blatant disregard for both the Syrian people and its legal obligations not to use chemical weapons.

"We condemn the use of chemical weapons by anyone, anywhere.

"We are in close touch with our allies following these latest reports. Those responsible for the use of chemical weapons have lost all moral integrity and must be held to account.

In 2013, two years into the civil war in Syria, David Cameron lost a historic Commons vote over launching airstrikes on the Assad regime to deter its use of chemical weapons.

There is no legal requirement on the Government to seek parliamentary approval before ordering military action but it has become convention to consult MPs, except in the event of an emergency.

Following a Sarin gas attack in Khan Shaykhun in April 2017 that left dozens dead, Mrs May dismissed a suggestion by Mr Johnson that the UK would have to join action in the case of further atrocities as "hypothetical".

In America, US President Donald Trump took to Twitter to condemn the attack, laying blame on President Putin, Russia and Iran.

He warned there would be a "big price to pay". 

Mr Trump also took a swipe at his predecessor, Barack Obama, saying Assad "would have been history" if President Obama had crossed his stated "red line in the sand". 

In 2012, a year into the Syrian civil war, Mr Obama said that the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime in the country's civil war would cross a "red line" triggering an American military response.

At a press conference on August 20, 2012, then Mr Obama said:

"We have been very clear to the Assad regime but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilised. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation."

French President Emmanuel Macron and Mr Trump agreed to coordinate a joint response to the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, the White House said on Sunday. 

During a phone call on Sunday, the two leaders agreed to share information about the nature of the attacks and agreed to coordinate a “strong, joint response.”

They agreed that Bashar Al-Assad's regime “must be held accountable for its continued human rights abuses," the White House said.

Back in the UK, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said those responsible for the chemical attack must be held to account. 

A host of MPs in the UK are also calling for further action following the chemical attack in Douma. 

Tom Tugendhat, Tory chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said there was a legitimate case for using force, tweeting:

"Standing by as kids are gassed isn't pacifism, it's tolerating evil."

Conservative MP Johnny Mercer, a former Army officer who sits on the Commons Defence Select Committee, said cyber attacks, as well as airstrikes, could be used to prevent more attacks.

He told the Daily Mail: "Anyone with a link to the decision-making process of releasing chemical weapons must be deliberately targeted in some way."

His predecessor, Sir Mike Penning, told the newspaper that if the evidence confirms the Syrian government was responsible then Britain should assist the US in "taking out that capability".

Their calls for action were repeated by Labour MP John Woodcock, who said said there was "a clear case for further missile strikes against Assad's forces".

"More outraged words from the Government are not sufficient to stop these atrocities happening again and again," he told the Mail.

Mr Woodcock's Labour colleague Wes Streeting said the atrocity in Douma came "thanks to global bystanders".

"It should shame us all. Whatever happened to the responsibility to protect?" he tweeted.