Hampshire MP hits out at UK's 'on the hoof' ISIS policy

Dr Julian Lewis, Tory MP for New Forest East and chairman of the Defence Select Committee, spoke out after Mr Cameron gave his clearest indication yet that he wanted to extend the British air campaign against Islamic State.

Speaking on US television yesterday Mr Cameron said the UK should “step up and do more” in the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

Parliament has so far authorised UK air strikes only against ISIS in Iraq.

Yesterday the Prime Minister acknowledged that he would need Parliamentary approval for further action.

Dr Lewis, pictured below, said he would support action only if Mr Cameron presented Parliament with a strategy that could produce “a decisive result”.

He added: “How I vote will depend upon whether the Prime Minister, instead of making this up on the hoof, as has been the case up until now, presents Parliament with an integrated strategy approved jointly by the heads of the armed forces.

“We are able to take military action in Iraq because we are doing so at the invitation of the Iraq government.

“The problem in Syria is that the British government doesn’t want to recognise the legitimacy of the Assad regime. But without the approval of the Assad regime there’s an entirely different legal situation if we were to start getting involved in military action in Syria.”

Later Dr Lewis told the Daily Echo: “We keep reacting to developments in the Middle East without thinking sufficiently deeply about it.

“But this is not a personal attack on the Prime Minister. It’s about a fundamental systematic fault that I’ve been banging on about for ages.

“It’s not really about the Prime Minister making policy on the hoof – it’s the government making policy on the hoof.

“The situation shows a lack of strategic, in-depth advice being given to the government. It doesn’t stand up to the complexities with which we are confronted.”