COMRADES, the answer to Edwin Starr’s “War! Huh! What is it good for?” seems to be markedly different for the warmongering crooks at Westminster. Fools rush in. Tories like war. The combination of these facts will, tragically, lead to a proliferation of civilian deaths in Syria during the hit-or-miss shelling now occurring within its borders. Once again, legislators thousands of miles away have voted to drop bombs from thousands of feet in the air, uncaring if thousands of innocent lives are lost.

It’s no wonder that people have such little faith in British politicians when said individuals are so eager to take their country into conflicts against the public will. Worse yet, such action is now apparently received with rapturous applause. It seems that clapping and cheering in the Commons is permitted only in exceptional circumstances… like after voting to deploy projectiles on another country.

Honestly, I fear for what future generations will think of these ghastly officials applauding the announcement of yet another war.

To make matters worse, our obstinate Prime Minister has referred to those opposed to the bombing of Syria as “terrorist sympathisers”. The fact that Cameron has refused to apologise for this belligerent and hypocritical assertion speaks measures about the man. After all, UK leaders have a storied history of labelling groups and individuals as “terrorists” while engaging in extremism themselves. Indeed, I’m not sure a Government that’s been buddying up to Saudi Arabia should be accusing anybody of sympathising with radicals. If anything, the funding of Daesh might be the sole example of Tories refusing to follow the money!

Indeed, just when we thought Cameron couldn’t become any more of a putrid double-dealer, he starts acting like the crème de la crème of corruption Tony Blair! Frankly, taking military guidance from Terrible Tony is like taking financial advice from a money lender. I think Blair should have the courtesy to refrain from making statements about international conflicts until after the Chilcot report is published – should it ever be published.

Certainly, the lunacy of Jeremy Corbyn allowing Tony’s cohorts a say on Syria was exasperating. Giving Blairites a free ballot on war was like giving fat kids a free vote on eating cake. An obvious example of this was the impassioned battle cry from Labour’s Hilary Benn, which was much admired by Conservatives on the benches opposite him. Will this ultimate opportunist become the new face of the Red Tories? Only time will tell, but one thing’s for sure: Benn will now receive far more media coverage than the innocent lives he voted to endanger on Wednesday.

Believing that thoughtless shelling will bring an end to Daesh is nothing more than self-indulgent fantasy. The self-destructive reality is that war means money – BAE System stocks rocketing over the last week is proof enough of that! It’s atrocious that, according to Tory logic, we have enough cash for bombs, but not the poor and homeless. We call ourselves a “civilised” nation, yet our government puts instruments of death before the needs of society. Tories love to hide under the blankets of morality and manners, but in situations such as this, they expose themselves as crude, clueless and totally devoid of moral fibre.

Personally, I think the PM should increase UK’s intake of refugees tenfold. Tories restricting Syrians from entering the UK while British missiles force them to flee their homeland is nothing short of reprehensible. Our priority should be to aid all civilians affected by this conflict. Supporting innocents will stop radicalisation – bombing runs by video gamers in the sky will do the opposite. This tactic was borne out of nothing but greed and deceit. Sadly, no amount of petitions, no amount of protesting and no amount of debating will change this. What we can change, however, is Scotland’s place in it. Once we do this, we can finally say “not in our name” and avoid being implicated in a blitzkrieg we did not ask to be part of.