PARLIAMENT last night voted to join air strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq.

The government won the vote by 524 to 43 as MPs from all sides backed military action.

The terror group has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria and has threatened to kill aid worker Alan Henning, who travelled to the region on a convoy from Bolton last December.

Bolton North East MP David Crausby said it was “unfortunate” that the action was required but said the militants had left the UK with no choice.

He said: “We have to do something about this – it is always a difficult decision to go to war and we take no pleasure in making it.

“But we simply cannot tolerate the Islamic State, which is beheading people on a whim. They are not just murdering westerners, but Kurds and others too – it is unacceptable.”

The action has been restricted to IS targets in Iraq because help has been officially requested by the Iraqi government.

But speaking in the commons yesterday, the prime minister said there was “no legal barrier” to similar action in Syria.

Bolton West MP Julie Hilling said that backing air strikes was an “incredibly difficult decision”.

She added: “I think the particular difference is that the Iraqi government has asked us to intervene. The situation in Syria is different and we have an even more difficult decision to make there.”

Yasmin Qureshi MP for Bolton South east was unavailable for comment.

The FBI says it has identified the militant responsible for the murders of three western hostages who also appeared in a video threatening to kill Mr Henning.