AS our MPs arrive back to the House of Commons today, recalled from holidays and constituencies far and wide, they will be in sombre mood.

For they are being recalled to Parliament to embark on a debate which could set Britain on course for military intervention in Syria.

And that is a decision which cannot be taken lightly. It is also one which we would argue carries little support among the general public.

An ever-so-subtle shift in some political and military thinking in recent days seems to be edging us towards support for our involvement in this increasingly complex and fraught conflict.

And anyone seeing the appalling pictures coming out of this fractured country cannot failed to be moved by the plight of the people there.

But while David Cameron insists the world cannot stand by in the face of the morally indefensible use of chemical warfare, he may find convincing fellow MPs and the greater public that military intervention is the solution, to be an uphill struggle.

And that is because in the wake of Iraq and Afghanistan the public appetite for military action abroad is just not there.

Of course there is anger at what is happening in Syria, but there is also very real concern that the risk is that we will become embroiled in something from which there would be no easy exit.