John McDonnell sees similarities between Hilary Benn's speech on Syria and Tony Blair's speech on Iraq in 2003. Do you?

Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn has been praised after his 'stirring' speech to the Commons in favour of air strikes on Isis in Syria.

It drew comparisons with the anti-war rhetoric of his father, the late hero of the Labour left, Tony Benn, despite their polarised stances on military intervention.

As a party, we have always been defined by our internationalism. We believe we have a responsibility one to another. We never have and we never should walk by on the other side of the road.

And we are here faced by fascists. Not just their calculated brutality, but their belief that they are superior to every single one of us here tonight, and all of the people that we represent. They hold us in contempt. They hold our values in contempt. They hold our belief in tolerance and decency in contempt. They hold our democracy, the means by which we will make our decision tonight, in contempt. And what we know about fascists is that they need to be defeated.

• Hilary Benn

Benn was credited with swaying the votes of several Labour MPs who had previously been on the fence over whether to defy the wishes of party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who gave his MPs a free vote despite being staunchly against the strikes.

Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme this morning, shadow chancellor John McDonnell said that his shadow cabinet colleague's speech reminded him of none other than Tony Blair before the 2003 invasion of Iraq:

I'm always anxious that the greatest oratory is going to lead us to the greatest mistakes.

Here is Blair's speech urging members of the House to vote in favour of war in Iraq in 2003. A motion authorising the invasion was passed by 412 to 149 votes.

Tell our allies that at the very moment of action, at the very moment when they need our determination that Britain faltered? I will not be party to such a course. This is not the time to falter. This is the time for this house, not just this government or indeed this prime minister, but for this house to give a lead, to show that we will stand up for what we know to be right, to show that we will confront the tyrannies and dictatorships and terrorists who put our way of life at risk, to show at the moment of decision that we have the courage to do the right thing.

You can watch Blair's 2003 speech below.

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