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- Let me be absolutely clear - we have acted because it is in our national interest. It is in our national interest to prevent the further use of chemical weapons in Syria and to uphold and defend the global consensus that these weapons should not be used. For we cannot allow the use of chemical weapons to become normalised, either within Syria, on the streets of the UK, or elsewhere.
So, we have not done this because President Trump asked us to do so. We have done it because we believed it was the right thing to do, and we are not alone. This was a limited, targeted strike on a legal basis that has been used before, and it was a decision which required the evaluation of intelligence and information, much of which was of a nature that could not be shared with Parliament.
We have always been clear that the government has the right to act quickly in the national interest. I'm absolutely clear, Mr Speaker, that it is Parliament's responsibility to hold me to account for such decisions, and Parliament will do so. But it is my responsibility as prime minister to make these decisions and I will make them.
