Eddisbury MP Antoinette Sandbach has given her full support to Prime Minister Theresa May after she authorised air strikes on Syria despite not consulting parliament on Sunday morning.

Ms Sandbach gave a speech during the Syria debate in parliament on Monday, saying she had seen first-hand the plight of refugees displaced by the civil war and also called for evidence to be gathered to prosecute people responsible for a chemical attack last week, including Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad

She said: "A year ago, virtually to the day, I was in Lebanon. I met many of those refugees and through an interpreter, I was able to speak to them about it. I think we should be very proud of this government's record in the region, in terms of supporting refugees in the region.

"What is needed is a broader action from other countries, but in particular putting pressure on Russia for it to stop what it is doing in Syria. We all know that is the reality as to a) what is needed to lead to access for humanitarian aid and b)if Russia told Assad to stop using chemical weapons, he would. They provide him with the 'excuse' to be able to do it.

"I have to say that I deeply regret the vote in this house in 2013 because I think we opened the door on this. I wasn't elected then but had I been, I would have supported action.

"I support the prime minister in her actions now and I also support the idea that government should have flexibility to act in a limited, proportionate and speedy way to deal with what was a very real threat. Part of the international rules-based is around human rights and the way to enforce that is through the international court for war crimes. The problem is, it takes years. We've all seen the cases from Kosovo and Rwanda and we all know how long it has taken to secure justice in those cases.

"The reality is with this dreadful blight; this horrific and barbaric use of chemical weapons, we cannot afford to wait and justice, I hope, will come to all those commanders that have been involved in those decisions in Syria.I hope that very good records are being kept.

"Ironically, the Syrian government is keeping its own records and in the words of Human Rights Watch, there's been a bureaucratic effort by the Syrian security apparatus to maintain a photographic record of the thousands who died since 2011.

"We have access to those records through defectors. I support the prime minister in what she has done but I urge more effort to secure and obtain the evidence that will lead in the longer term to prosecutions and convictions of Assad and Russians on the ground acting as advisors."