This is Devon --Westcountry politicians were last night deeply divided after Parliament voted against missile strikes on Syria amid questions over David Cameron's premiership.
Tory rebel Sarah Wollaston hailed a "good day for Parliament" after MPs defeated the Government by 13 votes over possible retaliation attacks on the Assad regime after 350 civilians were killed by chemical weapons. The Totnes MP argued humanitarian assistance to Syria should not "come in the form of cruise missiles".
But former Liberal Democrat leader and ex-Yeovil MP Lord Ashdown said it left the UK a "hugely diminished country". And Stephen Gilbert, Lib Dem MP for St Austell and Newquay, argued the rejection of the Government motion would "embolden those using chemical weapons".
Meanwhile, Ben Bradshaw, Labour MP for Exeter, claimed the Commons voted against military action "by accident" and blamed the Prime Minister's "terrible miscalculation".
He said: "Britain has said dictators can use chemical weapons, killing thousands, and we will do nothing."
Following an eight-hour debate in the Commons, 31 Conservative MPs rebelled against the Government, including Dr Wollaston and Anne Marie Morris, who represents Newton Abbot.
Nine Liberal Democrats, too, voted against the party and helped inflict defeat on MrCameron and Nick Clegg, including Andrew George (St Ives) and Dan Rogerson (North Cornwall).
Mr Cameron was yesterday attempting to recover from the humiliation, which weakens his leadership but is unlikely to topple him.
The last time a Prime Minister was defeated over an issue of war and peace was in 1782. There were shouts of "resign" from the Labour benches as the result – 285 votes to 272 – was announced to a shocked House of Commons.
On Thursday night the Prime Minister said it was clear Parliament "does not want to see British military action"– "I get that," he told MPs – but he yesterday repeated his call for a "robust response" to the Syria crisis.
Speaking in Downing Street, he said it was a "regret" that he had been unable to build a consensus on the response to the atrocity in Syria.
Labour leader Ed Miliband's refusal to support the Government even after Mr Cameron made concessions over his approach to the issue has angered senior Downing Street figures. During the debate, Mr Cameron repeatedly attempted to distance the decision from Tony Blair's path to the conflict in Iraq in 2003 – saying he understood why it had "poisoned" the well of public opinion.
The result triggered warnings about the US-UK special relationship amid Lord Ashdown's claims that Britain has been left a "hugely diminished country".
The ex-special forces soldier said he felt "depressed and ashamed" that Britain was not to join military action despite the "utterly compelling" evidence Bashar Assad had gassed his own people. Lord Ashdown, who served as High Representative for Bosnia after long advocating military action in the region, said: "I think it diminishes our country hugely.
"We now have a bunch of people – the same ones who voted against this last night – who want to get out of Europe and have smashed our relationship with the United States.
"We should all understand who is cheering this morning: president Assad is cheering; president Putin is cheering; I suspect (UKIP leader) Mr Nigel Farage is cheering as he sees this country teetering on the edge of isolationism."
And Cornwall MP Mr Gilbert, a ministerial aide, who voted with the Government, said: "All Parliament did yesterday was diminish Britain and embolden those using chemical weapons against civilians."
Mr Bradshaw, a Cabinet minister in the Labour government, voted for Labour's alternative amendment, which wanted to wait for the UN weapons inspectors' report, and abstained on the Government's motion because "I felt Britain should keep our options open".
Writing on his blog, he launched a withering attack on Mr Cameron rushing back from his Cornwall holiday to "bounce MPs into supporting military action in principle before they or the country were ready".
He said: "If Cameron had supported Labour's sensible and measured amendment or waited until next week, the vote would have gone through. Instead, both leaders seem now to have ruled out supporting military action, regardless of what the weapons inspectors say and Presidents Obama, Hollande and others decide to do.
"This is an extraordinary moment for British foreign policy and, I'm inclined to agree with Paddy Ashdown, a worrying one. Britain has said dictators can use chemical weapons, killing thousands, and we will do nothing."
However, Dr Wollaston defended the actions of MPs opposing the Government motion, arguing Britain should not act as a "policeman" on the world stage.
Dr Wollaston said yesterday: "I think this was a good day for Parliament because this was Parliament reflecting the view, very widely held across the country, that we should not be drawn into yet another Middle Eastern conflict, that we are not the right people to deliver this message to Assad.
"It's not about us being a nation of appeasers or apologists, Britain isn't just turning its back, we are delivering enormous amounts of humanitarian aid but we just do not feel that humanitarian aid in this instance should come in the form of cruise missiles." Reported by This is 16 hours ago.