David Lammy calls Bashar al-Assad ‘the rat of Damascus’

Speaking in the Commons, David Lammy says Labour government had resisted pressure to re-engage with Assad

Bashar al-Assad is the “rat of Damascus fleeing to Moscow with his tail between his legs”, the foreign secretary has said after Islamist rebels took control of the Syrian capital over the weekend.

Speaking in the Commons, David Lammy said the Labour government had resisted pressure to re-engage with Assad because he was a “criminal” and a “butcher” who was “never, ever going to change”.