AIRSTRIKES in Syria could be imminent but Cumbria's MPs have different approaches to military intervention in the Middle East.


David Cameron will address parliament on the issue today (Thursday, November 24) and he is likely to put it to a vote next week, so The Gazette contacted four regional MPs to find out if they are in favour of taking the fight to ISIL.


Westmorland-based Tim Farron has not ruled out the possibility of increased military action, but outlined very strict criteria that must be met before he would be comfortable voting in favour of airstrikes.


He said intervention must be legal and conform to UN Resolution 2249 which urges states to take 'all reasonable measures' to defeat ISIL and Mr Farron also called for 'no bomb zones' to protect civilians.


The 45-year-old Lib Dem Leader wants to make sure there is a post-conflict plan in place, including an exit strategy, in order to avoid a dangerous power vacuum.


He also wants Britain to put pressure on the Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and the Emirates to stop the funding of jihadi groups and Mr Farron is demanding that the Government publish the 2014 report into the Muslim Brotherhood and conduct an investigation into foreign funding and support of extremist and terrorist groups in the UK.


Mr Farron said that the Lib Dems 'know that to defeat an enemy as evil as ISIL the use of military force is necessary' but would only condone it if the above criteria were met.


Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock, who recently visited Iraqi Kurdish troops in Peshmerga, takes a stronger view in the wake of the recent Paris attacks.


The chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party defence committee said: "The horrific Paris attacks reminds us all that violent Islamic extremism is targeting our way of life and we must take every measure at every level to combat it. 


"This new attack should prompt the government and all political parties to look afresh at the case for extending the air campaign across the whole of the territory currently controlled by the extremists."


Conservative MP for Penrith and the Border, Rory Stewart, declined to comment on the matter, despite walking single-handedly across rural districts of Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, India and Nepal, publishing several articles and making a documentary warning against military action in the Middle East.

Mr Stewart is also the youngest ever Chairman of the Defence Select Committee.


Another Conservative MP, Morecambe and Lunesdale's David Morris, also declined to comment.