British poodle again? UK PM criticised over Syria airstrikes

British Prime Minister Theresa May might have had success in mobilising international opinion in her favour after former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found to be poisoned in Salisbury, England, and a massive diplomatic purge took place the world over, but she could not pull it off as easily over the West's air strikes against Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

According to a report published in The Guardian, May is facing strong criticism from parliamentarians after home after the British forces joined the US and France to target Syria's chemical weapons facilities without obtaining the MPs' consent.

Trailing after Trump, says UK Oppn leader

May defended the action taken by the West passionately, saying there was no other alternative and that chemical attacks could not be normalised but her stand was not bought by many. In what revived the memory of 'the British poodle', UK's Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party accused the PM of "trailing after Donald Trump" and opinionated that May should have taken the parliament's approval before ratifying such action. He also condemned the joint action, calling it "legally questionable action".

In the early 2000s, the then British prime minister Tony Blair who belonged to Corbyn's own party, was mocked as the American poodle for allegedly following the US in its intervention in Iraq and war on terrorism.

Corbyn said use of bombs would neither save people nor give peace a chance. He also said about US Defence Secretary James Mattis who said the air strikes made it risky by escalating an already devastating conflict further.

Action right but no procedure?

Labour MP John Woodcock, one of the Labour MPs who thought action was necessary against Assad, also believed that the PM did not do it right by not taking the parliament into confidence about the air strikes.

Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon also took a dig at May accusing her of toeing the presidential wishes while Vince Cable, a Lib Dem leader, was even stronger in his attack. He said "Riding the coat-tailing of an erratic US president" was "no substitute for a mandate from the House of Commons", the Guardian report said.

Leaders of the Green Party accused May of trampling over parliamentary democracy and sought a vote to be held on Monday, April 16.

May, who was open to more attacks if the Assad regime did not part ways with the chemical weapons, reportedly evaded questions on whether she was ready to seek a retrospective vote in parliament on Monday, the Guardian reported.