We must exhaust due process of international law before dropping more bombs in Syria

While the prime minister happily followed the president of the United States into this dangerous conflict, Labour is calling for a reasoned, rational response

After the devastating and appalling chemical attack in Douma, the international community must unite to hold those responsible to account.

The attack was a disgraceful breach of international law, which must be upheld if we are to stand a chance of ending the proliferation of these terrifying weapons of mass destruction. The right way to proceed would have been to gather the evidence first, and then the United Nations has to bring those responsible to justice and restart negotiations with the aim of achieving long-term peace in Syria.

Theresa May is hindering any possibility of a long-term UN peace strategy, after it has become apparent that she is not willing to hold a parliamentary vote on military intervention, and proceeded with air strikes on several bases in Syria. Securing the support of her cabinet does not give the prime minister the legitimacy or credibility of dragging our country into another complicated conflict.

The contempt that Theresa May has shown parliament so far demonstrates her lack of ability to lead this country and the lack of control she has over her own party, which cannot be trusted to support military intervention. Furthermore, the unilateralist approach she has taken to decision making shows she does not understand the wider picture in this conflict, in that it has the potential to escalate into a war between the United States, its allies and Russia.

While the prime minister happily followed the president of the United States into this dangerous conflict, Labour is calling for a reasoned, rational response, in which all parties involved in the chemical attack are brought to justice by the international criminal court at The Hague. Before military intervention is even considered, the due process of international law must be exhausted in order to maintain the legitimacy of the UN as an organisation and to explicitly show that international law has the power to punish those responsible for the use of chemical weapons across the world.

Jeremy Corbyn is right to say that Britain should work with the UN, the World Health Organisation and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons – firstly to establish the facts, and then work with our international partners to bring those responsible to justice. Such evidence would be extremely beneficial in restarting negotiations for a long-term peace in Syria.

The fact is that the contradictory foreign policy of Donald Trump not only risks escalating the conflict beyond control, but also drags Britain into this uncertainty as Theresa May plays a waiting game.

The first priority at this moment should be to achieve a ceasefire, which is surely in the interests of all sides, in order to put an end to the bloodshed and allow aid into affected areas.

The prime minister must also not allow her views relating to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal to affect her judgement in her response to Russian involvement in Syria. As we have seen through president Trump’s attempts at diplomacy via Twitter, foreign policy fuelled by emotion leads to inherent contradictions and escalatory rhetoric.

According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the civil war has already caused the deaths of over 200,000 civilians, with UNHCR figures suggesting that over six million people have been displaced and are now registered refugees. Make no mistake, this conflict is a stain on the face of humanity and the longer the international community allows it to continue, the more control we have over de-escalating it will inevitably dwindle.

Fabian Hamilton is shadow minister for peace and disarmament