John Cryer says he will oppose any further military intervention by Britain in Syria – if Parliament is given a vote.

The Leyton and Wanstead MP said he opposed air strikes against Syria and claimed by doing the Government was riding on the coat tails of “dangerous and unstable” US president Donald Trump.

Mr Cryer, who voted against strikes in Syria three years ago and also opposed Britain’s participation in the Iraq War, told the Guardian Series he would again vote against further action if Parliament were to be consulted.

“We are all deeply aware of what seems to have been a horrific chemical weapons attack in Syria,” he said.

“The use of chemical weapons has carried a visceral fear since they were first used during the First World War and this is no exception.

“I am very doubtful as to whether any intervention by the West will make matters any better and it will probably make them worse.

“We should never intervene unless there are outstanding reasons for doing so; but to do it on the coat tails of perhaps the most dangerous and unstable US president in history seems to be to an extremely bad idea.”

The Labour MP said he believed Parliament should be consulted on air strikes, adding Prime Minister Theresa May could pay a “very heavy price in future” for failing to hold a Commons vote on action.

MPs in favour of the strikes have argued time constraints meant it was not possible to consult Parliament beforehand.

Mrs May has insisted the military action taken by Britain was “moral and legal” and had not acted on the wishes of Mr Trump.

“Parliament should be consulted about this. I have heard several MPs say that we need to respond quickly and therefore it has nothing to do with parliament,” he added.

“On that basis, let's get rid of democracy altogether.

“On the narrow issue of whether the Prime Minister has the right to go to war without asking parliament, the constitutional answer is that she does as it is a royal prerogative.”

A US-led coalition including British and French forces launched a series of strikes aimed at degrading the Syrian government’s chemical weapons capabilities.

Russia, an ally of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, said more than 70 of the 105 missiles launched at targets were destroyed by air defence systems, a claim disputed by the West.

Defence Minister Gavin Williamson described the strikes as “highly successful”, while US commanders said Syria’s chemical weapons programme had been set back three years by the bombings.