Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron with EU leaders in Brussels
Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (C), Finland's Prime Minister Alexander Stubb and Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt (R) arrives for family photo session at the European Union Reuters

The British Parliament has been convened for Friday to take up the Prime Minister David Cameron's proposal for military action against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq. The British MPs have to endorse the plan before sending RAF fleet to Iraq by Saturday, reported Daily Mail. The decision to convene the Parliament came after the Iraqi government made a formal request for help. Mr Cameron has been under pressure to act against ISIS militants.

Gathering Support

The Daily Mail report also refers to the PM's embarrassment in 2013 when he lost a Commons vote on military action to support the rebels fighting the forces of Syrian president. This time the PM has taken enough time to build a consensus on military action. Ed Miliband of the Labour Party extended his party's support but also cautioned about the need to learn lessons from the past. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said his party was in favour of air strikes in Iraq. Cameron is expecting cross-party support for initiating military action in Iraq. The Parliament will be giving such a nod, after a decade, when Tony Blair as PM got the UK involved in a military offensive to topple Saddam Hussein. This time, the UK has no plans to send ground forces to Iraq.

British Hostage

The UK's involvement in the offensive against ISIS was expected, after the beheading of three Western hostages and the threat to kill kidnapped British taxi driver Alan Henning, reported The Independent. . Britain can hardly bide time now, as most of the Arab countries have already joined the offensive against the ISIS in Syria.

Mr Cameron tweeted that his request to recall Parliament has been accepted, in response to the request from Iraq for support against ISIS. However, he clarified that the British intervention will be limited to northern Iraq only and it will not launch strikes in Syria. Cameron will open the debate on Friday morning, and Deputy PM Lib Dem Nick Clegg will close the debate prior to the vote.

Cameron, while addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York on wednesday, called for a firm response against terror involving every part of government and society with widest possible international coalition. The British Prime Minister reminded that there are no easy answers or quick fixes and we have to deal with its effects for many years", the BBC reported.