Dominic Grieve: I have not the slightest doubt that the legal framework exists

Dominic Grieve, Conservative MP and former Attorney General, has said while he supports the intervention in Syra "a note of caution needs to be sounded about what we are trying to do.”

He said that, having spent the year “signing off on the prosecutions” of people returning from fighting with IS in Syria, he understood that IS were a real threat.

But there needed to be a “model of how people can co-exist peacefully” in Iraq.

“This country has a long history of international involvement."

As a barrister, he was certain that “so far as the legal framework is sound, I have not the slightest doubt that the legal framework exists” to deal with IS in Iraq and also suggested that "the preconditions for action in Syria are also present” under the "doctrine of humanitarian necessity.”

He also said that "the ability to intervene exists even if a UN security council resolution isn’t present."

But he warned that “just because the framework for legal intervention is present” does not mean it will meet the criteria of “lawfulness.”

He said he could understand the distinction between Syria and Iraq in that context.

“The fact that there are challenges whether they be legal or ethical is not a reason for doing nothing.”