Former soldier MP speaks movingly as he backs decision to take action

Kris Hopkins, Conservative MP for Keighley, gave one of the most powerful speeches in the House of Commons yesterday as he spoke of the horrors of conflict and said how the decision to go to war could never be taken lightly.

He served in Northern Ireland and described to MPs his experience of being taught to use a bayonet by thrusting it into a bale of straw, while realising he was being taught to tear apart a human body.

He raised particular concern about media coverage of the conflict and hit out at a BBC phone-in show yesterday in which people were encouraged to express a view on whether Colonel Gaddafi should be killed.

“People were phoning in and it was almost like a gladiatorial thumbs-up or thumbs-down about what the populace thought – and I’ve got to say I was fairly disgusted about this form of entertainment, about the killing of another human being, however disgusting he is.”

Mr Hopkins, who won Keighley for the Tories in last year’s general election after previously being leader of Bradford Council, spoke soberly about the casualties of war, describing having seen images of charred bodies from previous conflicts.

Despite his heavy heart, he said he was backing the Government and praised the Prime Minister’s leadership on the issue.

As David Cameron left the chamber, he diverted from his usual route to approach Mr Hopkins and congratulate him on his speech.