Summary: On 29 August 2013, the House of Commons voted against the prospect of UK military action against the Assad regime in Syria. The decision helped shape the Western approach to the Syrian crisis and marked a significant moment in British politics; raising important new questions about the constitutional basis for ‘who decides’ when Britain goes to war. On 20 January 2015 Professor John Gearson chaired a public talk by James Gray MP and Mark Lomas QC on these and other issues raised in their major new book: 'Who Takes Britain To War?' (The History Press, 2014). James Gray has been MP for North Wiltshire since 1997. A former Shadow Defence Minister (who resigned over Iraq), he is a member of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee, Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Armed Forces and the Armed Forces Parliamentary Trust. Mark Lomas was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1997 and took silk in 2003. He practiced for thirty-two years at the Common Law and Commercial Bar, specialising in professional negligence and insurance matters. The event was hosted by the Centre for Defence Studies. DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.
