Responding to Cameron's address to parliament last week, where his put forward the case for Britain to join the US-led international coalition in carrying out airstrikes on Daesh targets, the committee said the prime minister had failed to justify airstrikes in Syria.
— No. 10 Press Office (@Number10press) November 25, 2015
Foreign affairs select committee reject Syrian plan. The case for 'just' bombing is painfully flawed and will make Syria and UK less safe.
— Paul Dolman-Darrall (@MrPaulDD) December 2, 2015
The decision comes as MPs on Wednesday debate and vote on whether to carry out strikes in Syria, with concerns the Foreign Affairs Select Committee's findings may hinder Cameron's hopes of building a political consensus behind military action.
The committee voted four to three against supporting the proposed military intervention, with major concerns raised over the prime minister's claim that there was a 70,000-strong armed force of anti-Syrian government, anti-extremist fighters capable of benefiting from British airstrikes.
However, these claims have been widely derided by experts, who have argued that many of the so-called 70,000 fighters are in fact Islamic extremists, sparking fears that British intervention may actually assist other jihadist groups.
Shadow minister for civil service reform Louise Haigh caused a stir after she said that the government's national security adviser Mark Lyall Grant had told MPs that 40,000 of the forces were radical Islamists. Haigh tweeted:
National Security Adviser confirms number of moderates on ground in Syria is 40,000 rest are much more radical Islamists
— Louise Haigh MP (@LouHaigh) December 1, 2015
Government officials, who said Ms Haigh misquoted the national security adviser, rejected the claims.
The gvt needs to be clear on exact makeup of the 70000 figure, which forms key aspect of case for military intervention ahead of vote (4/4)
— Louise Haigh MP (@LouHaigh) December 1, 2015
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tried to put aside the internal divisions within his own party and increased the pressure on Mr Cameron, telling Sky News that there were many questions over the prime ministers' plans.
"The important issue tomorrow isn't the process within the Labour party, it's David Cameron trying to take this country into a bombing mission in Syria, claiming there is an army of 75,000 people […] whose existence is questionable, shall we say, and whose membership is certainly more interested either in fighting Assad or in doing deals with other jihadist forces. It seems to me that we are stepping into something that is potentially very dangerous and rather unknown."
