The British House of Commons voted by a majority of 174 to extend airstrikes to Daesh targets in Syria last week, a move which has caused divisive controversy in the country. Thousands had gathered outside Downing Street to protest the bombing plans, and many more took to social media to express their views on the issue.
One rumor which seems to have gathered steam over the past few days was that once the result of the vote was announced, MPs sickeningly cheered and laughed. However, this is not entirely true.
MPs did break out in laughter soon after the result was announced, but not in direct response to the decision to bomb in Syria. They were actually laughing at a joke made by the House of Commons Speaker which was not related to the conflict.
Upon delivering the result, Speaker John Bercow announced that business would move on to a petition. He paused and smiled, presumably joking about the idea of continuing parliamentary discussions after 11 hours of very serious debate. MPs laughed at this moment, and not at the decision to bomb.
In fact, when the result was read out, there was a somber silence in the room. See the video below, via The Independent.
Many Twitter users reacted to the laughter negatively, but not everyone understood the entire situation, with some thinking that the MPs were laughing and cheering at the idea of bombing Syria. See below, via Twitter.
Disgusting that the MPs laughed and cheered when they won the debate to bomb Syria and kill thousands of innocent people, absolutely vile
— arn (@arrancooke_) December 3, 2015Some MPs laughed when the vote was confirmed that we will bomb Syria. Pathetic snakes the lot of them
— Jacob Walters✈ (@JWalters777) December 2, 2015It's vile how the MPs laughed and cheered as the vote to bomb Syria went through. Innocent people WILL be killed despite your accurate bombs
— Tom Clare (@tomclarex) December 2, 2015
