Government warned on direct Syrian intervention

Richard Ottaway, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote to the Foreign Office to demand adequate notice for MPs to debate any change in government policy.

The committee said the government should publish official legal advice before undertaking direct intervention to tilt the balance of the Syrian uprising in favour of the opposition.

Members are concerned that the government is moving towards direct military aid for the opposition forces, if it can amend the EU arms embargo on Syria in negotiations launched last week.

Mr Ottaway asked William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, to confirm that the government had sought the formal advice of the Attorney General on the legality of intervention in Syria in the absence of a UN resolution.

The letter said the Syrian situation was different from last year's conflict in Libya where Nato benefited from the backing of a United Nations Security Council resolution.

"Grave concerns have been expressed by some members of the House about the value, legitimacy and legality of Western intervention in Syria," the letter said. "At the time of our intervention in Libya, the Government published a summary of the legal advice it had received, which concluded that UN resolutions provided a 'clear and unequivocal' legal basis for the deployment of UK forces and military assets to Libya."

Mr Ottaway said members were "increasingly concerned" that the momentum for Western-backed military action was building.

Comments by David Cameron earlier this week that "all options" to assist the opposition were being explored prompted the letter. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates almost 44,000 people have died in the conflict.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "The UK’s objective is clear - we want to see a diplomatic solution to the crisis that leads to an end to the violence and a process of genuine political transition. While the Foreign Secretary has set out that we have not ruled out any option in order to save lives, we continue to believe a diplomatic solution is the best option. This is not just the UK’s view or the view of Western countries - it is the view of the Arab League and the vast majority of UN member states.

"There is an established convention that Parliament should have an opportunity to debate the commitment of UK forces to military action in advance, unless an emergency means this would not be appropriate. We have made clear to Parliament our commitment to observing this convention, and set this out in the Cabinet manual."