After the House of Commons rejected the motion for possible military action in Syria, another Thanet MP has explained why she voted in favour of it.

Laura Sandys, MP for Thanet South, voted for the motion, which she says was not specifically for military action but to condemn the use of chemical weapons in general.

Ms Sandys said: “I always support humanitarian efforts in conflict zones and I would never have voted for the UK to militarily intervene in Syria.

“I was, however, happy to vote for a motion that stated that use of chemical weapons in any capacity should be wholeheartedly condemned and that we need to act as an international community to make sure this can never happen again.”

The vote took place last week after a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria in which hundreds of people are reported to have died.

Thanet North MP Sir Roger Gale, who also voted for the motion, has said the Syria debate was "sidestepped by party politics."