THE RAF's precision bombing skills means it should be capable of dropping food to Syrian civilians who are starving in besieged areas, the SNP has insisted.
During a Commons debate Patrick Grady, the party’s international development spokesman, said Scots had been "horrified" by the images and stories from Madaya.
But he questioned why the RAF's logistical skills used for dropping bombs on military targets could not also be used to precision drop food to those in need.
The town near the Lebanese border has been besieged by troops from the regime of Syrian president Bashar Assad and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah for several months.
More than 30 people are reported to have died of starvation or been killed trying to escape in the past month.
Labour's John Woodcock, who represents Barrow and Furness, told MPs he would not be asking International Development Secretary Justine Greening to "waste time explaining to the SNP what would happen to a food parcel if you were to try to deliver it via Brimstone supersonic missile".
Speaking during an urgent question on the situation in Madaya, Mr Grady told Ms Greening: "Of course we condemn the use of starvation as a weapon of war.
"But people are calling for the use of air drops because we were told of the logistical capabilities of the RAF, we were told of the precision with which it could hit military targets, so why can't those logistical skills and precision be applied to the dropping of food?" asked the MP for Glasgow North.
Ms Greening replied: "I've talked about some of the challenges of using different routes other than on the ground routes, whether from Damascus, which is literally 40 kilometres away from this town (Madaya)...”
She went on: "The issue is not whether there is sustenance, humanitarian supplies in the area; it's there. The issue is making sure we can get it from the centre of Damascus out to these people, who are starving, which is why this situation is so utterly atrocious and should be condemned.”
Ms Greening stressed how the food was within the proximity of the people who needed it but that it was being prevented from getting there routinely.
"It's worth saying UN agencies made seven requests over the course of last year to get into Madaya; only one was permitted by the regime," she added.
Brendan O'Hara, the SNP's defence spokesman, said: "It's a terrible irony that on the day the UK Government announces the first use of Brimstone missiles - the ones we're told minimise civilian casualties - we are forced to watch children starve to death in Madaya.”
The Argyll and Bute MP added: "Could I ask that if the convoys don't get through, do you agree that if we have the ability to drops, surely we have the ability to drop bread?"
Ms Greening replied: "I recognise the point you are making but of course those operations are very different in nature.
"One can happen from thousands of feet up. If we're going to get bread, water, medical supplies to the right people, then it's an entirely different operation, that requires planes and aircraft flying at a much, much lower level, which is why it's so hard to do effectively and why in the end we have to get the system that is there to work.”
She added: "That's why we have international humanitarian law and we shouldn't let up on this and we should make sure that the political system that's in place actually delivers for the people on the ground.
"As we're seeing, when pressure is brought to bear that is what happens."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel