George Osborne pleads with Government to help thousands trapped in Aleppo after Syrian forces ‘execute 82 civilians’
Former Chancellor said Parliament must take responsibility for lack of action in urgent Commons debate, but Boris Johnson says air drops are too risky and only Russia can end the war
GEORGE Osborne has heaped pressure on the Government to help rescue thousands of civilians trapped in Aleppo but Boris Johnson said aid drops would be unsafe and only Russia could stop the war.
The Former Chancellor gave his first speech since being fired by Theresa May in an emergency debate on the tragic situation in Aleppo, saying it had "moved us to tears".
In a passionate speech Mr Osborne said the Government should do "everything we can" to help citizens, and that Parliament's decision to not take action in Syria in 2013 had put Americans off acting too.
"Let’s be clear now, if you don’t shape the world, you will be shaped by it," he warned, and said that the situation had been building for years.
"We are deceiving ourselves if we believe we have no responsibility for what has happened in Syria," he added. "It did not come in a vacuum."
He warned that the price for not taking action in Syria had been shown, and tens of thousands had been killed as a result.
"We lack the political will as the West," he said. "We are beginning to learn the price for not intervening... we have allowed a terrorist state to emerge."
Even Labour's John Woodcock praised Mr Osborne's speech, but added "it will not in any way aid what little career I have left in my party".
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As the siege reaches its endgame, the Government were urged to help get citizens out safely, drop aid and prevent more massacres.
"There have been so many missed opportunities," Labour's Ben Bradshaw added. "We had the chance, we blew it."
Jeremy Corbyn did not speak in the debate but listened to some of it. He released a letter to the Prime Minister this afternoon calling for the Government to press for a UN-led ceasefire, and to set out how the Foreign Office would help push for a settlement.
"It is time this government concentrated every effort towards working with the UN and our allies to seek a peaceful resolution of the conflict," he wrote. "The lives of millions of people and the long term stability of this country and region depend on this."
But Boris Johnson said that aid drops would be "too great a risk" to British aircrews as Russians and Syrians controlled the airspace and were likely to shoot planes down.
"I will not rule out any option for delivering aid today, but nor will I give false hope," he said. "All efforts depend on Russia... it's up to them.
"We are doing everything we can within the constraints that we face... I hope Russia will see sense and join with us."
Andrew Mitchell pressed the Government and international community to do more to alleviate the suffering of those trapped in the "hell hole", and suggested that Government reexamine the failed vote on taking action in 2013.
The former International Development Secretary told MPs of UN reports of civilians being executed on the spot in the "tragedy that is Aleppo", and urged Government to think again about whether to take military action.
The United Nations human rights office said today it had received reports of the atrocities from credible sources on the ground, including the deaths of “11 women and 13 children”.
Spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva the killings took place in four different neighbourhoods in eastern Aleppo, "most likely" in the last 48 hours, as President Assad’s forces take back the city from rebel forces.
The Russian-backed Syrian military has announced it has gained control of 99% of the former opposition enclave, and its victory in the crucial battleground now appears inevitable.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the city "have literally nowhere safe to run" and urged fighters to observe "the basic rules of warfare - and of humanity".
It comes after a large scale offensive by Syrian troops and militias backed by Russian air strikes tipped the balance in the four-year battle for the city.