Parliament Backs Thatcher on Gulf
Britain’s Parliament on Friday strongly backed Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s dispatch of forces to the Persian Gulf and her refusal to rule out military action against Iraq.
At the end of a two-day emergency debate, the House of Commons supported government policy by a vote of 437 to 35, far higher than the 100-seat majority Thatcher’s Conservatives normally command in the 650-member chamber.
Britain was the first country to commit forces to back the U.S. military buildup in the gulf after Iraq’s Aug. 2 seizure of Kuwait.
Britain has sent three squadrons of fighter-bomber aircraft, a destroyer and two frigates to the area. A second destroyer and three minesweepers are also on their way. Officials said a further commitment would almost certainly be ground troops.
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