ANTI war campaigners gathered in York this evening, as MPs get ready for a late night vote on the Government's plan to start bombing ISIS in Syria.

At a rally in Exhibition Square protesters urged MPs not to back David Cameron's plans to extend British air strikes from Iraq.

York man Mark Whyte said the country needed to learn the lessons of the Iraq war, which left hundreds and thousands dead, destroyed societies and created the condition for ISIS to grow.

He added: "Syrian activists who have escaped Raqqa tell us 'We are already living under the hell of ISIS, and now you want to rain bombs down on us'."

"Twelve years ago Tony Blair told Parliament we had to bomb Iraq to keep the world a safer place.

"The end result was hundreds and thousands dead and the Middle East torn apart.

"It appears we have learnt nothing, and here we are again debating whether to bomb Syria."

Among the protesters were representatives of the York Mosque, who said bombing Syria would not destroy the grievances that drove people to join the ranks of Daesh.

One of them said the fact that ISIS, or Daesh, threaten terror attacks in Britain in not a reason to oppose the bombing as the country should not "give in to bullies", but added that air strikes would kill civilians and in turn drive more people in the region to support Daesh.

After a day of debate, the House of Commons was expected to vote after 10pm. York's MPs have already announced they would be voting in opposite directions with Conservative Julian Sturdy supporting the military action, but Labour York Central MP Rachael Maskell voting against it.

Mr Sturdy said he understood that a lot of his constituents were concerned about the prospect of bombing Syria, but believed the UK must extend its strikes over the Iraqi border.

He added: "I want clear assurances from the Prime Minister that our involvement will not escalate and cause us to be drawn into a wider conflict in Syria against Assad.

“ISIL presents a severe threat to our country, and the first obligation of any Government should be to keep its people safe. These extremists will continue to plan and carry out attacks on the West because of the values we stand for, and we should not be cowed by their propaganda about retaliation against countries who challenge them. Britain will continue to be threatened by ISIL regardless of whether or not we extend airstrikes into their heartland and I am adamant that we must defend ourselves."

Ms Maskell held a public meeting earlier this week, and said she would be voting against the air strikes.

She tweeted that her decision was based on evidence, analysis of the "flimsy proposal" for the strikes, and from listening to constituents, and added: "Cameron's case on ground troops is unbelievably thin."

More widely in North and East Yorkshire most Conservative MPs are likely to follow the party line, with Ryedale MP Kevin Hollinrake, Selby and Ainsty's Nigel Adams, Ripon and Skipton's Julian Smith, and Scarborough's Robert Goodwill all coming out in favour of the air strikes.

Mr Hollinrake said: “I’m keen to vote in support of air strikes. I do so on the proviso that we do take a long-term strategy on this.

“It’s not about just going in there and taking a knee-jerk reaction over what has gone wrong over the last few weeks. It’s very much about trying to get stability and a peaceful solution for Syria and the people of Syria.”

Andrew Percy, MP for Brigg and Goole, rebelled and voted against air strikes in Syria in 2013 but has said he supports David Cameron on bombing this time. But Tory Howden and Haltemprice MP David Davis is thought to be one of a small number of MPs planned to vote against the air strikes.