MPs have demanded a vote on the use of unmanned drones after David Cameron unveiled plans to double their number and said he could envisage using nuclear weapons.
Conservative Defence Committee chairman Julian Lewis called for a Commons vote if the new drones were going to kill people in Syria.
Ministers said they would replace the UK's 10 drones with twice as many of a new, improved design in a bid to tackle the threat from Isis.
The announcement comes just weeks after Mr Cameron announced an RAF-operate drone killed two Britons in Syria.
The Tory leader also insisted he would be prepared to deploy the UK’s nuclear deterrent.
There were circumstances in which it would be "justifiable", he said.
He also hit out at Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, accusing him of "undermining our national security" by saying he would never press the nuclear button.
The Tories have made defence and security one of the main themes of their conference, in a bid to capitalise on what they see as one of Labour’s key weaknesses.
Mr Cameron also denounced Russian leader Vladimir Putin for a "terrible mistake" in backing the Syrian leader, who he described as the "butcher Assad".
Russian support had made the region more unstable, he said.
Meanwhile, the former head of the Navy, Lord West of Spithead, has reportedly threatened to quit Labour if the party adopts Mr Corbyn's policy on unilateral disarmament.
But the leader of the Unite union, which backs Trident renewal, suggested that the Labour row over nuclear weapons was pointless.
The order to replace the nuclear deterrent will “get through” a crunch Commons vote next year, he predicted, no matter how Labour MPs vote because the Conservatives have an absolute majority.
Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told Tory activists that with Isis Britain faces its "most serious threat in a generation", in what was seen as a signal ministers are moving closer to a vote on bombing inside Syria.
On the Trident nuclear deterrent, Mr Cameron said: "The problem with his answer is if you ... believe like me that Britain should keep the ultimate insurance policy of an independent nuclear deterrent, you have to accept there are circumstances in which its use would be justified.
"If you give any other answer then you are, frankly, undermining our national security, undermining our deterrent."
Mr Cameron also reiterated that he would not order RAF airstrikes in Syria until after a vote by MPs.
"Obviously, we are not going to do that until we have a vote in the House of Commons," he said.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said there is "no place to hide" for Isis, adding Britain will defeat the terror groups "vile ideology, no matter how long it takes".
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