As distressing images pour out of Iraq MPs have been speaking out about whether the UK should intervene militarily against Islamic State (Is) fighters.

Ilford Recorder: Lee Scott MPLee Scott MP (Image: Archant)

Lee Scott MP for Ilford North has condemned the brutal images emerging from the Kurdistan region of Iraq but stopped short of condoning military intervention while MP for Ilford South, Mike Gapes, has called on the government to support the stricken region.

Mr Scott said: “I think that the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary’s stance of sending humanitarian aid and reviewing the situation is the right way to go.”

America has already approved air strikes against IS militants who have taken control of land in northern Iraq, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

Conservative MP, Mr Scott, said that an “open mandate” should be maintained and the situation monitored.

He added: “I’m greatly concerned about the sheer brutality used by the terrorists against children and the innocent. Should we do everything in our power to help? Yes, we should.”

Mike Gapes, MP for Ilford South, has called on prime minister, David Cameron, to recall parliament and approve military intervention.

Writing on his parliamentary website he asked: “Why have the British and other NATO governments been so tardy in response to the growing sectarian disaster in Iraq?

“It is two months since the well armed brutal and fanatical ISIL captured Mosul and near by oilfields and declared an Islamic State covering vast swathes of Syria and Iraq, and began to systematically butcher Christians and other religious minorities including the Yezidis in Iraq.

“It is time the British government stopped prevaricating and made a clear firm decision to support the secular democrats of the Kurdistan Region who have now requested NATO assistance and military equipment from the UK and our NATO partners.”