Theresa May refuses to back further Syria strikes despite Michael Fallon and Boris Johnson’s pleas
A MAJOR Cabinet split has opened up over Donald Trump’s Syria air strikes as Theresa May refuses to give Britain’s backing to any fresh assault.
The deep divide has pitted the PM against Boris Johnson and Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon.
Both want the UK to be as closely aligned as possible with the US.
But Mrs May wants to keep Britian out of any military confrontation, and has also angered ministers by still not making any public comment on the strikes four days on.
No10 also yesterday refused to back America’s threat for another cruise missile bombardment if the Syrian regime uses nerve gas again.
The divide also lead to No10 heaping heavy pressure on the Foreign Secretary to abandon his Moscow trip, The Sun can also reveal.
Downing Street peppered the Foreign Office with strategy demands for the trip after President Trump’s cruise missile strikes early last Friday morning, and the PM and Boris also spoke on Friday night.
Diplomatic sources say Mrs May’s reaction left Boris feeling he no longer had the Prime Minister’s backing to confront Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov face to face, so he pulled out of the visit.
A diplomatic source said: “The PM made it clear she didn’t want Boris to be at the forefront of any sabre rattling with Moscow. She thinks this is the US’s fight not Britain’s.
“Boris would have gone if he felt he had Theresa’s support. He didn’t.
“A lot of people in the Foreign Office are spitting with anger about it as it has been months in the planning.”
Almost a week has elapsed since it erupted when 100 civilians were killed when the town of Khan Shaykhun was targeted with Sarin gas last Tuesday.
One minister said last night: “The question that needs to be asked is where is Theresa? Why isn’t she speaking? That tells you everything”.
Boris’s forthright public comments on the need to seize the moment also stand in stark contrast to No10’s yesterday.
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Branding Trump’s missile strikes as “a game changer”, the Foreign Secretary yesterday insisted the US could attack again, and it was vital to send “a clear and united message from the West”.
The president’s National Security Adviser HR McMaster and his ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley have both warned the US is “prepared to do more” to enforce an international red line on chemical weapons if Assad uses them again.
But when repeatedly pressed if Mrs May supports President Trump’s tough stand, the PM’s official spokesman would only dub the situation “hypothetical”, adding: “Our focus is on building international support for a political solution to end the conflict and bring lasting peace and stability to Syria”.
No10 also said Theresa May has no plans to go back to the House of Commons to ask for approval for the UK to stand alongside the US and join future strikes on Assad.
A vote by MPs in December 2015 only authorises the RAF to join attacks on ISIS in Syria.
Meanhile, The White House has warned Assad faces fresh missile strikes if civilians are targeted from the air with barrel bombs, not just chemical weapons.
The declaration suggests Donald Trump is ready to significantly deepen the US’s involvement in the war.
The president’s spokesman Sean Spicer said: “The president has been very clear that there are a number of lines that were crossed last week.
“If you gas a baby, if you put a barrel bomb into innocent people, I think you will see a response from this president. That is unacceptable.”
Almost four days on from the US missile strikes, Theresa May finally spoke to Donald Trump.
No10 said the pair agreed that there is now “a window of opportunity” to persuade Putin to dump his alliance with Assad.
They also discussed the threat meddling Iran poses to the Middle East, as well as the need to put pressure on North Korea to end its nuclear weapons programme.
Mrs May did ring Canada’s Justin Trudeau on Sunday night to work with him to “build support for a political solution”.
Mr Trudeau, who also runs a powerful G7 country, is seen as a foreign policy dove and could be a key ally in trying to restrain Donald Trump.
Downing Street also said the two leaders “agreed on their support” for the initial US cruise missile strikes on Friday, dubbing them “an appropriate response”.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reinforced America’s new intention to act against war crimes yesterday.
While commemorating a 1944 Nazi massacre in Italy ahead of a summit of G7 foreign ministers, Mr Tillerson said: “We rededicate ourselves to holding to account any and all who commit crimes against the innocents anywhere in the world”.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer had said affirmed the US' commitment to action. He said: "If you gas a baby or drop a barrel bomb onto innocent people, you will see a response from this president."
Former Tory PM David Cameron failed to persuade the Commons to allow cruise missile strikes on Assad to punish an earlier chemical weapons attack that killed 1,000 civilians in 2013.
Mrs May’s spokesman underlined that it was Mr Johnson who made the decision to pull out of the trip, saying: “This was a decision that he took after weighing up the options as to what was the best way forward in terms of building this international alliance”.
A No10 source added: “There is no split within government. We are all working to the same aims”.
But Troy MP and ex-Army officer Johnny Mercer attacked No10 last night for not backing the new US threats against Assad.
Mr Mercer said: “”Every man and his dog wants to see a political solution in Syria; ultimately that is the only way it will end.
"But there comes moments when a Nation must decide what it does and doesn’t stand for.
"We need to be shoulder to shoulder with the US on this, and reaffirm the UK. Armed Forces relevance in global affairs.”