Conservative Keith Simpson says he will support the government, because action is needed to make the UK safe.

He urges MPs to "put aside" the mistakes of the past, and make a decision based on Syria alone.

Many MPs have cast doubt over the prime minister's claims that there are 70,000 anti-IS fighters on in Syria who could combat IS on the ground. Addressing their concerns, this is what David Cameron had to say earlier:

Image source, parliament.uk

Labour's Derek Twigg says there should be a "huge" United Nations force in Syria, combined with a political strategy to bring about peace.

He says he "would support action if it was feasible of deliverable", but the plan the government has put forward will not work and he will not support it.

Image source, AFP

Some important points about tonight's votes on Syria.

- There will be two votes. The first will be on an amendment put down by Tory John Baron and SNP Westminster leader, Angus Robertson, opposing airstrikes. That will start at 22.00 GMT.

- The second will be on the "main motion" under the name of David Cameron, supporting military action. Voting on that should begin at about 22.15 GMT, with a result due at about 22.30 GMT.

- The Commons is made up of 650 MPs but the Speaker and his three deputies cannot vote while Sinn Fein's four MPs do not take their seats and will not take part. There is also currently no MP for Oldham West and Royton, with a by-election taking place tomorrow. That means either side needs 321 votes to prevail.

Conservative Nusrat Ghani says she will vote in favour of air strikes, because they are about "keeping British people safe".

She says the "destruction of the caliphate state" is the right thing to do, and that we should break the "umbilical cord" linking IS ideology to young people tempted by extremism in the west.

Labour's Yvette Cooper says she will be voting with the government in favour of air strikes in Syria.

She says "we know Isis won't be part of the peace process" and adds they are a "death cult".

She asks "can we really say no when France having gone through that terrible ordeal in Paris says they want our help".

House of Lords
Parliament

With all the attention on the Commons, don't forget there is also a debate on Syria in the House of Lords this afternoon. Lambeth Palace has just confirmed the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will speak later on. We'll be bringing you updates on what's happening in the Lords as well as the Commons this afternoon.

Conservative Julian Lewis, who is chair of the defence committee, says air strikes without ground forces would be "ineffective and potentially dangerous", and he will not vote for them.

He is "sorry to say we face a choice between very nasty authoritarians and islamist totalitarians." He adds the government is "in denial" about this.

He argues that the ground forces the government has suggested using are riven with factions and full of extremists, and that "instead of having dodgy dossiers we now have bogus battalions of moderate fighters".

A spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn says he expects the government will win tonight’s vote but claims that David Cameron "has lost the argument”.   

He says it is clear there has been a shift of opinion across the country, within Labour as a whole and the shadow cabinet in the direction of the doubts raised by the Labour leader.  

The spokesman says the figure the government had given of Free Syrian Army troops had been “unpicked dramatically” and there were “a whole string of militias who were very far from moderate or secular groups”. These included radical islamists and in some cases jihadist groups, he adds.

He also points out that the prime minister has not been able to say what advice he had been given on the risks of terrorist attacks in the UK.

Labour's Alan Johnson says there can be no justification for not taking action after the French asked for assistance and the United Nations resolution called for action against IS.

He says that if we do not bomb, we are only supporting the "pieties" in UN resolution 2249, not the main commitment to confront IS.

He will support the government, he says.

Conservative MP John Baron says he has "the medals to prove I'm not a pacifist", but he opposes air strikes in Syria.

He says "what I don't see in this plan is a clearly laid out strategy". 

He describes the 70,000 troops the government has claimed will fight as "mythical", and says that they are "liable to turn on each other".

He dismisses the argument that we need to intervene to maintain our place at the diplomatic "top table", pointing out that China is taking part in the Vienna talks without committing to military action.

He will oppose the government, and says there is "no excuse for repeating our errors and setting out on the same tragic misguided path once more".

Labour MP Dame Margaret Beckett says "we are a target" for IS, whether air strikes in Syria go ahead or not.

She argues that the consequences of inaction would be "death and destruction" for the people who live there.

She adds that military action in Kosovo and Sierra Leone show that military intervention can save lives, and notes that the United Nations have called on "member states to act now." 

She says this, and the request for assistance from the French government, mean she will vote to support air strikes.