Iraq Air Strikes: Nick Clegg Assures 'No British Ground Troops' as Parliament is Recalled

The UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has reassured the British public that ground troops will not be sent to Iraq.

The leader of the Liberal Democrat party made the comment ahead of MPs being recalled to parliament to vote on potential air strikes in Iraq to combat Sunni jihadist group Isis (now known as the Islamic State) on 26 October.

"We are saying as government, and this is what we are putting to a vote in the House of Commons, is 'are we going to play our part or not'," Clegg told LBC Radio.

"We are not going to pretend that we are going to do everything, everywhere – we are not even going to pretend that air strikes on their own are the solution – but we are at least going to play a part, provide our bit of the jigsaw to the huge international coalition, which has been assembled against Isis.

"It would be quite extraordinary, after what we have seen, if we basically said 'we are going to wash our hands of all of this and allow other people to do our dirty work for us'. "

The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that there will "not be British combat forces on the ground [in Iraq]".

A poll from YouGov for The Times found that more than four out of ten (46%) of the British public disapprove of ground troops in Iraq, against 29% of people who approve of such a move.

The move comes after Labour Party leader Ed Miliband said he would support military involvement in Iraq.

But Miliband said extending the strikes into Syria, where Isis is based, would require a UN resolution before he would consider such a move.

A United States-led coalition, compromised of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar, has already launched air strikes into Iraq.

President Barack Obama, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, asked the world to join in the military effort against Isis.

"We will use our military might in a campaign of air strikes to roll back Isis," Obama said.

"We will train and equip forces fighting against these terrorists on the ground.

"We will work to cut off their financing, and to stop the flow of fighters into and out of the region.

"Already, over 40 nations have offered to join this coalition. I ask the world to join in this effort."

Isis plans to create a caliphate across the Middle East, including Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria.

The terrorist organisation gained notoriety after beheading Western hostages and persecuting religious minorities within the territory it holds.