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By Ned Simons - 21st March 2011
The commitment of British forces to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya has once again raised the question of parliamentary approval for military action.
The government is under no formal obligation to gain the support of MPs before it deploys the armed forces, and parliamentary consent is a political necessity rather than a legal one.
In this case MPs are largely being asked to rubber stamp military action that has already taken place.
But the prime minister has insisted that it was a "race against time to avoid slaughter of civilians in Benghazi".
The implication being that there was not time to wait until after today's vote before action was taken.
The United Nations passed resolution 1973 granting international legal backing to military intervention on Thursday evening.
The prime minister made a statement to the Commons on the government's decision to commit UK forces to the mission on Friday.
But as French, American and British military forces took action over the weekend, MPs watched on television along with everyone else.
Labour's John McDonnell last week urged the government to recall the Commons over the weekend to allow MPs to debate and vote on the decision as soon as possible.
Conservative MP Peter Bone also said he would have preferred today's debate to take place on Saturday.
And in a point of order before today's debate Labour's David Winnick said the government had assured MPs they would be allowed a vote before military action was taken.
The Walsall North MP said Parliament should have been recalled on Saturday to allow it to debate the government's decision to take part.
Parliament was last recalled on 24 September 2002 to debate Iraq and weapons of mass destruction.
MPs were also brought back to debate the invasion of the Falkland islands in 1982 and in the wake of the terror attacks on New York and Washington in 2001.
It is up to the government to decide whether or not to haul MPs back to Westminster. The Speaker can not do it without first being asked by the government.
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