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"Very Difficult To Say No" If US Asks For Help Against Syria

If the US asked for military assistance against Syria, it would be "very difficult" for Britain to say no, Boris Johnson has said.

The Foreign Secretary indicated that the UK couldn't deny a military response to further chemical attacks.

Mr Johnson said there was "no question" that Assad's regime was responsible for the sarin gas attack earlier this month which prompted a US retaliatory cruise missile strike on a Syrian air base.

Asked whether Britain would be ready to join the US in similar action if the chemical assault was repeated, Mr Johnson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme:

"I think it would be very difficult for us to say no. How exactly we were able to implement that would be for the Government, for the Prime Minister.

"But if the Americans were once again to be forced by the actions of the Assad regime - don't forget, it was Assad who unleashed murder upon his own citizens with weapons that were banned almost 100 years ago - if the Americans choose to act again and they ask us to help, as I say, I think it would be very difficult to say no."

However, earlier on Downing Street played down the prospect of military action in retaliation for the use of chemical weapons, insisting 'nobody was talking' about an armed response to the atrocity.

Mr Johnson also indicated that the Prime Minister might not seek MPs' approval in parliament before deploying British troops, adding that that question "needs to be tested".

Pressed on whether the Government would have to bypass Parliament if there was a phone call in the night calling on the UK to support US action, he told LBC radio:

"You are putting your finger on the issue."

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, according to the House of Commons library.

Britain is carrying out air strikes in Syria and Iraq against terrorists of the so-called Islamic State (IS), but has taken no military action against the Assad regime.

MPs backed the action against IS in a December 2015 Commons vote but rejected strikes against the Syrian government in 2013.