Key Findings:

• Over half (61%) of voters said the UK should only take part in further raids with the approval of Parliament
• The top reason for supporting military strikes in Syria was to deter the further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime
• Half (51%) said they trust MPs as a whole most to make decisions regarding Syria, over 27% who trust Theresa May the most

On behalf of the Mail on Sunday, Survation polled 2,060 respondents after the US, UK and France carried out missile strikes on Syrian government facilities over the night of April 13th-14th. The poll focused on respondents’ opinions of the raids and Theresa May’s handling of international crises.

More respondents said they oppose military strikes against Syria than support them, on 40% to 36%, respectively. A fairly large portion of respondents (24%) said they don’t know if they support or oppose military strikes against Syria.

Of those who said they support military strikes against Syria by the UK, well over half (62%) said they support strikes because it is necessary to deter the further use of chemical weapons in Syria. One in five (20%) said it is important to stand together with the US and France and 15% said strikes will help to bring down the Assad regime in Syria.

Opinions were more split among those who said they oppose military strikes in Syria by the UK. About a third (34%) said they oppose strikes because the risk of more civilian casualties is too great, 31% said they fear retaliation by Russia or others, and 28% said they generally oppose all military action.

Theresa May obtained cabinet support for joining the US and France in taking action in Syria, but did hold a vote in parliament before the strikes. Over half of respondents (54%) said she should have to have Parliamentary debate and vote before intervening militarily in Syria. About a third (30%) said she should not have to and 17% said they don’t know.

In terms of possible future raids in Syria, well over half (61%) said the UK should only take part in further raids with the approval of Parliament while a fifth (20%) said the UK should take part in raids regardless of Parliamentary approval.

Half (51%) said they trust MPs as a collective the most to make the right decision regarding Syria, while about a quarter (27%) said they trust Theresa May the most, and 22% said they don’t know. When asked who they trust the most to handle international crises, a majority (46%) said they trusted Theresa May over Jeremy Corbyn (25%) and 29% said they don’t know who they trust the most.

The full tables can be found here.