THE UK Government is soon expected to call a vote on whether UK forces should participate in airstrikes against Daesh also known as ISIL in Syria.

Last Thursday the Prime Minister put forward his case for why he believes MPs should approve this intervention.

There is no denying the brutality of Daesh.

Everyone, across all political parties is united in our condemnation of their terror and we are agreed that more must be done to take them on.

The SNP has always maintained that we will listen to the UK Government’s case for military action against Daesh – however, we would need to be convinced of the efficacy of any proposed action.

The Prime Minister’s statement did not fully answer many key questions about the impact of UK airstrikes and there was a distinct lack of a long-term plan for Syria.

We cannot commit troops to war without a long-term plan; this hasn’t worked in the past – as the case of Iraq demonstrated so disastrously – and will be doomed to failure if we do not learn from those past mistakes.

There are currently three permanent members of the United Nations Security Council bombing Syria, none of which has managed to prevent multiple terrorist attacks over the past month.

It is difficult to see how UK airstrikes would have any additional, effective impact.

Neither am I convinced that our potential allies on the ground would be effectively supported by airstrikes.

Without such reassurances we remain sceptical of UK military action in Syria.

Last week also saw the Chancellor, George Osborne, unveil his latest round of cuts heading Scotland’s way.

Chancellor George Osborne made his Autumn Statement which detailed extensive further cuts to public spending, including £12 billion in cuts to welfare.

This continuation of his austerity programme is not surprising – it is what was promised in their manifesto, a programme and a manifesto which the Scottish people voted overwhelmingly against.

The chancellor gave some specifics about where the axe was to fall and Scotland will bear the brunt of Tory austerity with a 6% cut to our revenue budget.

On top of this, the cuts to welfare not only directly impact vulnerable people in Scotland, but means that Scottish taxpayers pay twice over when the Scottish Government is forced to mitigate them in order to protect our most vulnerable, as we have done against the bedroom tax.

Our expectation was that the drastically reduced welfare budget was going to include revised proposals to cut tax credits, following the chancellor’s failure to get his initial plans through the House of Lords. However, following sustained pressure from the SNP and welfare rights activists, Osborne used the Autumn Statement to reveal a complete reversal of his plans for tax credits.

While this is something of a victory all those who campaigned against these particular cuts, and a relief to working people struggling to get by, we must be wary.

There has been no monetary reduction in the planned cuts to welfare, and during the statement we heard an implication that the burden of his u-turn on tax credits will land on housing benefit.

The sooner welfare is in Scotland’s hands, the better for the people who live here – particularly the most vulnerable.