Less than half British public back Syria strikes

The British public is turning against airstrikes with less than half now backing David Cameron's plans to join military action in Syria, a new poll suggests.

The proportion of people in favour of strikes has slumped from 59 per cent to 48 per cent, according to a YouGov survey for The Times newspaper.

Meanwhile, those who said they were against the action rose to 31 per cent from an earlier figure of 20 per cent.

The number of those undecided remained steady at 21 per cent.

Although the figures show that a growing number of people agree with Jeremy Corbyn, who has argued strongly against airstrikes, it is not translating into a boost in support for the Labour leader.

Just 24 per cent judged him to be performing well, down from 30 per cent a week earlier, the poll found.