Johnson: Saying no to Syria strike action 'difficult'

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said that it would be very difficult to refuse support for the US in any potential military strike on Syria. Speaking to the BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Johnson also said that MPs would not necessarily have a vote on any proposed joint action, with the upcoming general election throwing doubt over the usual convention of voting in the House of Commons on military action. The law, however, does not require the government to win a Commons vote before launching military action. Last month, US forces undertook a missile strike against a Syrian air base days after a chemical attack that left 80 people dead and hundreds wounded - an act which Johnson blamed the Assad regime for ‘unleashing murder upon his own citizens with weapons that were banned almost 100 years ago’. Under David Cameron’s premiership, a vote on possible UK military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government to deter the use of chemical weapons was marginally defeated by 285 votes to 272, ruling out joining US-led strikes. Johnson said: "I think it would be very difficult if the US has a proposal to have some sort of action in response to a chemical weapons attack. And if they come to us and ask for our support - whether it's with submarine-based cruise missiles in the Med... in my view - and I know it's also the view of the prime minister - it would be difficult for us to say 'no'."