As Theresa May prepares to back Trump in escalating military intervention in Syria, Stop the War published the following letter in response

There can be no justification for chemical weapon attacks, or for despicable bombing that targets civilians of the sort that we saw in Douma. Further military intervention, as proposed by Trump, May or Macron, is not the solution and can only extend the appalling suffering of the people of Syria. It also risks spreading the war across the Middle East and raises the frightening possibility of direct confrontation between nuclear-armed powers.

It is quite wrong to argue, as Tony Blair does, that these attacks are the price of non-intervention. Foreign military intervention from all sides, including from the UK government, has only served to deepen and prolong the war in Syria. Britain voted to join the US in bombing Syria in 2015 and was involved in covert operations before that. Its interventions have killed many people, fuelled the cycle of violence and done nothing to bring peace. Rather than backing the gung-ho foreign policy of the most inflammatory and xenophobic US president in history, the UK government should be seeking political and diplomatic solutions to the tragic situation in Syria, and to avoid anything that can escalate further the conflict in the region.

Signed by: Mark Rylance, Brian Eno, Francesca Martinez, Owen Jones, Lindsey German, Murad Qureshi, Chris Williamson MP, Emma Dent Coad MP, Ian Mearns MP, George Monbiot, Giles Fraser, Harry Leslie Smith, Victoria Brittain, Andrew Murray, Kevin Courtney, Manuel Cortes, Kate Hudson, Kiri Tunks, Alex Kenny, Alexei Sayle, Kareem Dennis (Lowkey), Gerald Simpson (A Guy Called Gerald), Lara McNeill, Marcus Barnett, Shelly Asquith, Robin Brookes, Professor Alfredo Saad Filho, Professor Diane Reay, Professor Danny Dorling, Professor Des Freedman, Professor David Miller, Professor Peter Hallward, Dr Feyzi Ismail, Dr Kalpana Wilson, Dr Gholam Khiabany, Dr Tassia Kobylinska, Dr Milly Williamson