Britain has its mojo back! And all it took was bombing Syria according to George Osborne

It was a decision which made every UK citizen question themselves, thinking long and hard about their position on the far-from-straightforward issue of the crisis in Syria.

And, one would like to think, even more thought came from our elected representatives in Parliament - particularly when the decision was made to extend airstrikes into the country from Iraq and almost certainly cause the deaths of more innocent civilians.

But clearly that's not weighing on George Osborne's conscience too much.

Speaking to a thinktank in New York, he said that the airstrikes had given Britain "its mojo back" and that bombing Syria was a "source of real pride".

He told the Council on Foreign Relations:  "Britain has got its mojo back and we are going to be with you as we reassert Western values, confident that our best days lie ahead. The House of Commons did not agree with the proposition that David Cameron and myself and my colleagues in the Conservative leadership put forward and it was quite a striking moment. It was a moment when Britain was unable to follow the lead asked of it by our Prime Minister and the government."

Which, give or take a few words, sounds a lot like something that, we don't know... Hitler might say. But we digress, Osbourne continued to say:

"It is for me a source of real pride that actually a couple of years later the House of Commons has voted by a big majority to take part in the action already being directed against this terrorist organisation Isis or Daesh in Syria." Hmmmmm.

He said that British air strikes alone would not solve the problem, but said they would help reduce the potency of the organisation. He also said that a long-term political solution in Syria did not necessarily depend on the whole Assad regime being removed.

Osborne said: "It's difficult to see how Syria can have any long term future with Assad there as president, many people would never return to that country if that were the case. But, that doesn't mean the entire Syrian regime has to go." He added that the price of failing to take military action in Syria earlier is "very apparent to people". 

"I think in Britain we are ready to play a bigger role." he claimed.

So those essential cuts in spending in every area of public life clearly don't apply to the military then.

(Image: Rex/Allstar)