Reuters/London

A top official in Britain’s opposition Labour Party said its lawmakers should be allowed a free vote on taking military action against Islamic State in Syria, after reports that some of his colleagues might quit if forced to vote against bombing.
With Labour deeply split over Syria two months into far-left lawmaker Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, the party’s finance chief John McDonnell said lawmakers should be allowed to follow their conscience on issues such as going to war.
“You’re sending people out possibly to die,” McDonnell -- a close ally of Corbyn -- said on BBC radio late on Friday.
“There shouldn’t be any party discipline on issues like this. You should follow your own judgment of what’s best in the interests of the constituency and the country.”
Prime Minister David Cameron wants to convince lawmakers to back British air strikes against Islamic State in Syria as well as in Iraq where it already supports US-led attacks.
Cameron’s drive to win support in parliament has taken on fresh urgency after the attacks by gunmen in Paris this month which killed 130 people and were claimed by Islamic State.
French President Francois Hollande said on Friday he hoped Britain’s lawmakers would back Cameron on the issue.
Corbyn has written to his party saying he could not support the case for military action. But some members of his top team have said they believe that extending the bombing is right.
Former Labour prime minister Tony Blair’s decision to join the US-led Iraq war in 2003, in which 179 British service personnel were killed, remains contentious in Britain after questions were raised over the intelligence case for action.
An opinion poll suggested 48% of British voters supported extending air strikes to hit Islamic State in Syria with 30% opposed. The poll, carried out by polling firm Survation for the Daily Mirror newspaper, also showed 49% favoured diplomatic and non-military options before committing Britain to anything more than air strikes.
The split within Labour has led to speculation that Corbyn will face a mutiny. The Times newspaper said senior Labour officials and lawmakers had sought legal advice on how to unseat Corbyn in the hope of building support for a plot against him.
“We are not commenting on speculation. There has been no challenge to Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership,” a Labour spokesman said in response to the report.
Most Labour lawmakers did not support Corbyn’s bid for the leadership but he was backed by an overwhelming majority of grassroots party members.
Anti-war demonstrators were due to march in London later on Saturday against any extension of military action by Britain.
Cameron lost a vote in parliament on air strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in 2013.
On that occasion, Labour did not give its lawmakers a free vote and ordered them to vote against the government.
Cameron has said he will only call a vote on launching bombing raids against Islamic State in Syria if he is sure of winning enough support.
Around 4,000 people joined a protest in London yesterday against Britain potentially joining air strikes against the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria. The demonstration was organised by the Stop The War Coalition protest movement.
Its chairman Andrew Murray urged demonstrators to “stand behind” Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the main opposition Labour party and a former Stop the War Coalition chairman, in opposing air strikes.
“This is a conflict that cannot and will not be solved by bombing,” Murray told the crowd.
One demonstrator, 65-year-old John Offen, said he and others were worried about a “lack of planning” in the proposed military action.
“We’ve had adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he added, referring to Britain’s role in previous conflicts. “We’ve destabilised all these countries.”
Actor Mark Rylance and musician Brian Eno handed a letter in to Downing Street urging Cameron not to join the international air strikes.
“I don’t think this is the way to support our friends in France,” Rylance, star of Wolf Hall and Bridge of Spies, told reporters. “We’ve tried this way before.”
Britain is already involved in air strikes against IS jihadists in Iraq but has not so far taken part in bombing the group’s positions in Syria.
Cameron’s previous government suffered a humiliating defeat in 2013 over military action against the Assad regime and did not push joining air strikes in Syria to a vote last year, amid resistance from Labour.
Corbyn is facing deep splits in his party over the looming vote.