I wrote last week that the military action taken in Syria was a futile effort yet I can’t help noticing various MPs thinking the decision should be theirs to make and not the Prime Minister’s.

The idea that any strikes should be debated in full public view for the enemy to see, giving them time to prepare their defences, just shows what little military experience or common sense some MPs have.

The whole argument on who is sovereign is quite clear on this matter and it is not the Commons, it is the Queen, whose prerogative powers are exercised in her name by the executive.

Most MPs have no experience of military matters. They are not privy to the intelligence that ministers receive and so should not interfere with the business of war, it is not their job.

Calling for Parliamentary approval first is pure grandstanding by some members on a topic most are not qualified to decide on.

The irony is the legislative branch has been accusing the executive of a power grab.

By all means MPs should express their opinion as I have done myself, but the decision should remain with the Government.

Before we end up with yet another spanner in the works of our constitution let’s remember that the Commons track record on war situations can be summed up perfectly by one word: Iraq.

Dr Scott Marmion,

Woodthorpe,

York

No reasoning with a side that won’t listen

You have to wonder where the leader of Her Majesty’s opposition, his shadow Attorney General and his Shadow Foreign Secretary have been for the last seven years?

On every occasion that Syria has been the subject of a UN resolution it has been vetoed by Russia in defence of the Syrian regime. How can you negotiate a settlement when the other side are just not listening?

Putin and Assad will continue to subject the Syrian people to a tyranny of violence including chemical weapons until they have obliterated the Syrian nation, and Corbyn just does not see that. When the returning aircrews were praised by the Prime Minister for their bravery and dedication, who was silent, who never uttered a single word to the people who keep him safe and able to stand up and speak in defence of both the Russian, Syrian and Hezbollah fighters who must now be close to facing charges of war crimes?

I do not want us to engage in another war, but I also do not want our politicians to shy away from confronting these bullies.

Keith Isaac,

Byron Drive, York

Nothing new in this attitude from Russia

Russia’s poker-faced ability to ignore or deflect any criticism of its most outrageous actions has always been a subject of debate amongst friends and opponents alike.

In 1939, newly at war with Nazi Germany, Churchill expressed his puzzlement at Soviet Russia’s cosying up to their sworn enemy Hitler.

He said: “Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Perhaps there is a key - Russia’s self interest.” In contrast to its macho militarism Russia has always been a highly sophisticated society with a strong appreciation of the performing arts, albeit with their own twist.

One theatre critic said: “In a Russian tragedy everybody dies; in a Russian comedy everybody dies; but they die happy”.

A V Martin,

Westfield Close,

Wigginton,York

So much hot air over Syrian war solution

As Parliament reconvenes after the Easter recess there will be no need to turn on the central heating.

Hot air emanating from the mouths of dozens of pious, pontificating politicians, all telling us how they would solve the Syrian crisis, will be enough to raise the temperature.

Fact being, were any of them to be tasked (God forbid) with making a decision of great magnitude on behalf of the nation, they would run a mile.

Peter Rickaby,

West Park, Selby