Only a quarter of Britons backed the UK's decision to launch air strikes in Syria to punish the country's regime for allegedly using chemical weapons, a new poll has revealed.

Asked to what extent people would back "UK forces conducting targeted air or missile strikes on Syrian government military targets", just 28 per cent supported them, while 36 per cent opposed, 26 per cent neither opposed nor supported the strikes and 11 per cent did not know.

Interestingly, a no-fly zone over Syria policed by Western allies received far greater support, suggesting large numbers of people are convinced of a need to act.

Almost half of people asked (47 per cent) backed a no-fly zone to protect civilians in Syria's civil war, just 11 per cent opposed, 9 per cent neither opposed nor supported and 12 per cent did not know.

A moot point. Russia has rendered imposing a no-fly zone in Syria virtually impossible

There was an even split when asked if people would back some troops in Syria in non-combat roles, with a third backing the idea and a third against, but there was strong opposition to deploying soldiers in combat roles - with 48 per cent disapproving and just 19 per cent approving.

But the BMG poll results could temper Ms May's approach, as she now faces having to spend political capital to justify the attacks in the Commons - where some Tories and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn were angry at being denied a vote in advance of the strikes.

The prime minister began on Saturday by publishing the elements of the government's legal case for the operation, including that there had been convincing evidence of "extreme humanitarian distress", no alternative but to act and an operation that was "proportionate to relieve humanitarian suffering".

At the press conference earlier, Ms May said her cabinet had considered the legal advice and intelligence around the Douma incident before acting.

She went on: "And based on this advice we agreed that it was both right and legal to take military action, together with our closest allies, to alleviate further humanitarian suffering by degrading the Syrian regime's chemical weapons capability and deterring their use.

"This was not about interfering in a civil war and it was not about regime change."

Horsehockey. Of course it is, and has been for decades.

Declassified CIA memo shows how US has been plotting Syrian regime change for decades

That did not stop Mr Corbyn branding the action as "legally questionable", before adding: "Bombs won't save lives or bring about peace

"Britain should be playing a leadership role to bring about a ceasefire in the conflict, not taking instructions from Washington and putting British military personnel in harm's way.

"Theresa May should have sought parliamentary approval, not trailed after Donald Trump."

BMG interviewed a representative sample of 1,562 adults living in Great Britain between 10th and 13th April. Data are weighted. BMG are members of the British polling council and abide by their rules

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated:

"Based on the results of the investigation, traces of the toxic chemical BZ and its precursors, related to chemical weapons of the second category under the Chemical Weapons Convention, were found in the samples. BZ is a nerve gas that temporarily puts a person out of action. The effect is achieved within 30-50 minutes and lasts for up to four days."

Police officers are preparing the material while the OPCW (Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) inspectors are working on the incident surrounding former Russian agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.

"Of course, if the OPCW rejects the findings of the Spiez Laboratory, it will be interesting to hear the explanations," said the Foreign Minister.

Previously, OPCW experts found that the Skripal poisoning used a high purity, toxic chemical, but did not say who was behind the incident.

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