Tavish disagrees with Carmichael on Syria

SHETLAND MSP Tavish Scott has condemned Wednesday’s decision by MPs to bomb Islamic State extremists in Syria, despite his Westminster Liberal Democrat colleague Alistair Carmichael voting in favour of military action.

On Thursday Scott published his views on his Facebook page, saying: “The case for war has not been made.”

Earlier he commented on the same page that he was “trying to not think about the terrible decision the House of Commons have taken”.

On Thursday, Scott said he did not want to comment further aside from saying that he agreed with the editorial on the parliamentary debate published in The Guardian newspaper.

The Guardian said that it did not believe prime minister David Cameron had made the case for military action in Syria, basing it on “heroic assumptions” and “wishful thinking”.

“I think The Guardian got it right, that’s my view as well,” Scott said.

“I am not in line with Alistair, I don’t agree with him, and I am not in line with military action in the way the government is now taking it forward.”

Scott said he would publicly outline his own views on the issue more clearly next week.

Divisions within the Liberal Democrats emerged during the debate after leader Tim Farron said all of the party’s eight MPs would support military action.

In the event, while Carmichael followed the party line, two fellow LibDem MPs Norman Lamb and Roger Williams voted against the government motion.

The National newspaper reports that a “host” of LibDem members have protested about the party’s stance on Wednesday night’s vote, signalling widespread division within the party on this most controversial issue.