Downing Street denies David Cameron has scrapped plans for Syria air strike vote

Downing Street sources are rubbishing reports in The Times and Guardian claiming the Prime Minister has given up on winning a vote in The Commons on airstrikes in Syria.

But saying they were only ever going to the Commons if there was consensus is entirely consistent with the reports that they have now given up on finding that consensus.

The last time I spoke to a senior Cabinet Minister about this very issue was just a few weeks ago and I was told that they still hoped for a vote, but with Labour in disarray there was no one to talk to to find out what the opposition really thought.

So the Government has had to have its own conversations with individual Labour MPs - and indeed Conservatives - to find out what they thought.