“What do we want? An End to War. When do we want it? NOW!”

VOTE UPDATE: Jon Ashworth voted to oppose bombing, while Keith Vaz and Liz Kendall voted in favouring of bombing Syria.

David Cameron’s attempt to rush through a vote to start bombing Syria was met with significant opposition from Leicester’s diverse communities today, when, at spectacularly short notice, over 200 people took to the street to voice their anger.

Speakers representing a variety of groups, and others in an individual capacity, spoke passionately against yet another bombing campaign in the Middle East, which has already devastated Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.

One protestor remarked that “a bombing campaign cannot be the answer because western military intervention has been one of main radicalizing factors. If we want to bring peace to the region we need to stop selling arms to dictators, not drop more bombs.”

These words are reminiscent of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who earlier this year stated that “ISIS didn’t come from nowhere, its weapons don’t come from nowhere. We sell vast amounts of weapons to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and a number of other places – how many of those end up in the hands of ISIS?”

Unfortunately, however, Corbyn’s unwillingness to use the party whip to ensure a “No” vote, and to enforce policy established at the Labour Party Conference earlier this year, has meant that Blairite MPs with no conscience have been allowed to vote with their conscience.

Indeed, the social media response from Leicester’s Labour MPs, who will shortly be casting votes on this issue, has been less than positive. Earlier today, Leicester West MP Liz Kendall tweeted in defence of bombing Syria: “We are already a target… No one makes anyone kill innocent people.”

The drum of war seems also to have intoxicated Leicester South’s MP Jon Ashworth, who yesterday retweeted Kendall’s approving statement from Hilary Benn, the key figure making the case for war within the Labour shadow cabinet. Jon Ashworth has history in this respect, having voted for airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq in 2014. Let’s hope he has learned a lesson.

Keith Vaz, MP for Leicester East, has been more reticent, tweeting earlier today that “I am considering changing my position on Syria.” Having not yet made his position clear, it is uncertain what this means.

Worryingly, Leicester’s MPs remained silent throughout today’s debates.

Although communities across Leicester have demonstrated their opposition to war, all eyes turn now to Leicester’s elected leaders. Let’s hope they have the courage to take the fight to the Tories, instead of yet another senseless war.