Oh dear, what a mess of confusion, accusation and regret. Surely there are more important things to worry about than some kind of spat of gransnet.
I've just heard Hilary Benn's contribution to the debate yesterday, played in full on radio 4 's news between 5 and 6 pm. HB voted for bombing, I would have voted against, as did my local (Labour) MP. I listened to much of the debate yesterday (I'd switched off by the time HB spoke) and was impressed by the way most contributors spoke. Which ever side they were supporting, my impression was that MP's had researched, read, consulted constituents, agonised about the significance of their vote.
I did see Stella Creasey leave the debate and later read the reason why. I noticed on my MP's Facebook page that a number of people had posted images of dead children/bombed cities in Syria as their way of encouraging him to vote NO. I'd had an email discussion with him earlier this week and so knew which way he'd planned to go and was relieved. Despite this, I didn't find it easy to come down on NO. Daesh throw gay men off buildings, they enslave women and girls (and I'm sure boys though they never get a mention) into sexual slavery. They do need to be stopped, no doubt in my mind about that.
I can't stop my rant without reference to John MacDonald who made a grudging praise of HB but then compared his speech to the one Blair made when taking the country into the Iraq war. I know HB supported those wars but I don't see him as the devil incarnate