Speaking from the Labour backbenches, Seema Malhotra condemns IS's actions, and says the group must be stopped. In an ideal world this would be through negotiation, but that this is not an option with IS, she says. This is a battle in defence of Islam, Ms Malhotra tells MPs - and dismisses suggestions that it is not the UK's fight.

The Feltham and Heston MP says the ongoing air strikes have been successful, and have the support of Arab states in the region - but seeks more details from the government on its overall strategy for the region.

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary correspondent

Winding up for the government, Jim Wallace tells peers that President Assad is part of the problem not part of the solution - and rejects suggestions that the coalition against ISIL should cooperate with him. A significant comment.

As Lord Wallace has spelled out, peers will not vote on the proposal to join US-led strikes on Islamic State in Iraq. Their role is to debate the wider context and implications of military action.

BBC's Norman Smith tweets, external: Lib Dem MPs addressed by Nick Clegg this morning ahead of #iraq vote but. sources say only "handful" expected to vote against

For the government, Deputy Leader of the House Lord Wallace of Tankerness welcomes widespread support for air strikes across the House of Lords "with only a few exceptions" which he says will encourage those military personnel going into operations.

It's just under an hour until MPs vote on whether to authorise UK involvement in air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq.

The government looks set to win the vote easily. Downing Street has said a small number of troops could be sent to Iraq within hours, if the Commons backs the move.

Wind-up speeches begin in the Lords with Labour's Lord Bach, a shadow Foreign Office spokesman, who voices the opposition's support for military intervention and emphasises the role the Lords can play in continuing to scrutinise the government.

He says "we have a legal, moral and political mandate" to act, but it must be backed by humanitarian and diplomatic efforts.

Restating her intention to oppose the motion, Labour MP Diane Abbott says there is no strategy or end game to the government's plan. The Hackney North MP says it is "quite clear" that IS is "inciting" the West to bomb the region, by publishing videos showing its beheadings of hostages.

"Why doesn't that give people pause, that this is something they want? Because it will make them the heroic Muslim defenders against the crusaders," she warns.

Image source, afp/Getty Images

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary correspondent

tweets, external: Winding-up speeches starting in Lords - Labour's @FightBach then @jrwallace54 - with stunning self discipline, peers will finish on time

Islam is facing its own version of the 30-years wars, says Richard Bacon. It is "delusional" to think the UK can get involved and support on side, he adds - and insists that only Muslims can decide for themselves if they want to "live together or die together".

UKIP former leader Lord Pearson of Rannoch, who says he backs the government's proposals, asks why the peaceful majority of the UK's Muslims do not do more to oppose the violent minority, suggesting they could issue a fatwa against those who sympathise with Islamic State.

Opposing the motion, Labour MP Paul Flynn warns of "mission creep" into a "prolonged" war with "unforeseeable consequences" - and adds that it will be "almost impossible to extricate ourselves from it".

The Newport West MP says another war will bring more terror and encourage more jihadists to join IS' cause. He questions why the UK cannot have an "independent" foreign policy "free of the United States".

Debate in the House of Lords is nearing its conclusion, with crossbencher Lord Singh of Wimbledon sceptical of what air strikes can achieve. He warns that "at best it can only bring us back to the instability" that followed the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Nick Robinson
Political editor

If/when the House of Commons votes for air strikes against IS forces in Iraq the next steps are becoming increasingly clear.

Angus Robertson, Westminster SNP Leader

tweets:, external MPs from @theSNP will vote against UK Govt motion on bombing Iraq which makes no mention of plan for winning the peace

Plaid Cymru tweets, external: Plaid Cymru urges region-led response to Iraq crisis: MPs will vote against air strikes, external #Iraq #plaidcymru

Conservative MP John Baron - a former solider - impresses upon the House the importance of a co-ordinated military plan to combating IS in he Middle East.

He says there is a danger that if the Iraqi army is not fit for purpose and cannot take and hold ground from IS, then air strikes will become "counterproductive" because IS "will be able to spin that they have withstood the might of the West".

A political solution is also key, Mr Baron adds.

"I don't think there are serious legal objections" to air strikes without a UN resolution, Conservative former security Baroness Neville-Jones tells the House of Lords.

She calls on the government to put more resources and efforts into combating radicalisation and argues in favour of removing passports belonging to people suspected of intending to travel abroad to take part in terrorist activities.

Former coalition minister Sir James Paice says there is "little doubt" that the House will support the motion in the vote later.

But he opines that it is not wise to permanently rule out sending in UK combat troops on the ground - even though this is not something he wants to see. "We should always retain some element of surprise," he counsels.

• Formed out of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) in 2013, IS first captured Raqqa in eastern Syria

• It captured broad swathes of Iraq in June, including Mosul, and declared a "caliphate" in areas it controls in Syria and Iraq

• Pursuing an extreme form of Sunni Islam, IS has persecuted non-Muslims such as Yazidis and Christians, as well as Shia Muslims, whom it regards as heretics

• Known for its brutal tactics, including beheadings of soldiers, Western journalists and aid workers

• The CIA says the group could have as many as 31,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria