THEY'VE DONE IT: PUNCHING ABOVE THEIR WEIGHT TO THE GATES OF HELL

Oh well, it is done... The British Empire is yet again at war.

And how they cheered and they clapped, although clapping used to be, or so we were told, discourteous. Perhaps we misunderstood, and it's only discourteous when second class members of the house of Commons do it. Fine when Eton and Oxford Toffs do it.

So, they voted with their consciences, and that's all you can say. And if or rather when, it all goes wrong, I hope their consciences are strong enough to take it. it's on their shoulders.

As Alex Salmond said (see Wings article), there were many good speeches. I was impressed by people who were asking why, as Salmond and Corbyn did, we weren't trying to deny Daesh their finance, their weapons, their communications systems. People from opposition and government benches alike.

At the end of the debate in scenes that will be broadcast around the world, people saw our Hooray Henrys cheering and shouting for joy because they're off to kill people from the Middle East again. Well not them obviously... the plebs do that for them.

I suspect that this scene may be used in the recruitment material of the Daesh movement. 

Scotland voted 57-2 NOT to go to war, but hey ho...there we are again pooling and sharing the vast financial expense of punching above our weight while our people queue up at food banks and our OAPs have the second worst pension in the developed world, leading to deaths for malnutrition and hypothermia. And now we'll also have to pool and share death and destruction.

I'm not sure at the moment how Wales or Northern Ireland voted, but I know that this is not being done in Scotland's name. Of that much I'm proud. 

Of the rest I am deeply deeply ashamed.