May, Macron face lawmakers angry over Syria strikes

LONDON, Apr 16 (AFP): British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron faced anger on Monday from lawmakers for conducting air strikes with the United States in Syria in their first major military action since coming to power.

May was due to address MPs after proceeding with the joint strikes without prior parliamentary approval-a sensitive subject in Britain where memories of participation in the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 are still raw.

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, has said the strikes were "legally questionable" and called for new legislation to stop governments launching military action without lawmakers' backing in most circumstances.

"I believe that parliament should have been consulted and voted on the matter. The UK prime minister is accountable to parliament, not to the whims of a US president," he wrote in a weekend letter to May.

Stop the War, a coalition once chaired by Corbyn, is holding a demonstration outside parliament later on Monday.

The group said the strikes "will have done nothing to end the war" and "risked dramatically widening" the conflict.

The leaders of the opposition Scottish National Party and Liberal Democrats have also criticised May and there is the possibility of a vote in parliament later Monday that could embarrass the prime minister if she loses.

In France, Macron has faced similar criticism for attacking Syria without consulting the legislature but defended the move as well as his constitutional powers in a TV interview on Sunday.

"This mandate is given democratically to the president by the people in the presidential election," he said.