David Cameron is welcomed to St Petersburg by Vladimir Putin
The UK has fresh evidence
of the use of chemical weapons in Damascus, David Cameron has told the
BBC as he arrives in Russia for the G20 summit.
Scientists at the Porton Down laboratories have been "examining samples" from Syria's capital, he said.
Mr Cameron denied claims he had "no hand to play" over Syria after losing a vote last week on UK military action.
He said the UK would lead calls for more action on aid for refugees and push for fresh peace talks.
In an interview with BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson, Mr
Cameron said he took "full and personal responsibility" for the decision
to recall Parliament and could not have guaranteed MPs a say in whether
Britain should take part in US-led action had he not acted so swiftly.
His "only regret" was that Labour, which voted with Tory and
Lib Dem rebels against the government motion, had chosen "the easy and
the political path not the right and the difficult path".
'Appalling signal'
Asked if he had no hand to play at the St Petersburg summit,
which is expected to be dominated by discussions about Syria, he said:
"Not in the slightest."
Mr Cameron added: "Britain will be leading the argument on
humanitarian aid. Britain will be one of the leaders in bringing forward
plans for a peace process for Syria. Britain will be leading the
argument across the globe for continuing to respond strongly on chemical
weapons."
He said: "I absolutely believe that, having set a red line on
the further big use of chemical weapons, it would be wrong if America
was to step back and, having set that red line, to do nothing. I think
that would send an appalling signal to President Assad and also to
dictators elsewhere."
The Damascus government is accused of using chemical weapons
against civilians on several occasions during the 30-month conflict -
most recently on a large scale in an attack on 21 August on the
outskirts of the capital.
The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has denied involvement and said the rebels were responsible.
But Mr Cameron said evidence of the Assad regime's use of
chemical weapons was "growing all the time" and scientists at the UK's
chemical warfare research laboratories were investigating the attacks on
21 August.
"We have just been looking at some samples taken from
Damascus in the Porton Down laboratory in Britain which further shows
the use of chemical weapons in that Damascus suburb," he told Nick
Robinson.
Russian President Vladimir Putin: "The risk of another (economic) crisis is still there"
Syria is not officially on the G20 agenda in St Petersburg,
which is meant to be about global economic recovery, but it is expected
to dominate informal meetings.
'Sidelined'
US President Barack Obama has begun informal talks with other
leaders as he pushes for military action over Syria's alleged use of
chemical weapons.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that military action without UN approval would be "an aggression".
Earlier, former UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox said the
government's Commons defeat on military action had left Mr Cameron
"sidelined".
The Conservative MP said the prime minister had been "sent
into negotiations on Syria with no hand to play and that was bad for the
UK".
Speaking on the BBC's Daily Politics programme, he said the
vote had "given pause for thought amongst our allies about the
deliverability of any promise that future prime ministers might make".
He added that Parliament needed to reflect on how the events of last week had been interpreted internationally.
Former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell said: "If the G20
does not agree about military action against the Assad regime, it can
surely unite around a determined effort to improve humanitarian relief.
"The summit would be a qualified success if it could agree to
do everything possible to achieve a ceasefire so that the humanitarian
effort can proceed unhindered.
"David Cameron should make this a priority."
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