AN MP claims air strikes against Syria will do little to combat Islamic State – the terrorist organisation behind the deadly suicide attacks in Paris.

Bolton South East MP Yasmin Qureshi reaffirmed her opposition to bombing saying there are more effective ways of dealing with the terrorist group, also known as ISIS and ISIL.

She spoke out on the Victoria Derbyshire programme after Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the Government plans to launch air strikes as soon as it gains parliamentary support.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also stated his belief that air strikes would not make an impact, saying a political settlement to Syria's long-running civil war is needed.

Ms Qureshi, a member of the foreign affairs select committee in the House of Commons, claimed air strikes have not made any difference in the past.

She said: "Talking to the experts on the ground and people who know a lot about what's happening in Syria, we seem to have been carrying out strikes for months in Iraq and Syria and we haven't dented ISIS's strength. In fact, they seem to be getting stronger and stronger.

"I don't have a problem about air strikes or bombing of people who carry out these kinds of activities, but the question is, what are we going to achieve by it?

"We have been bombing for months on end, and in some respects ISIS have become stronger and stronger."

She said that the civil war in Syria and the position of its president, Bashar al-Assad, needs to be addressed first.

Ms Qureshi added: "One of the reasons it is becoming stronger is because Assad is also someone who needs to be dealt with. The biggest recruiting sergeant for ISIS is the presence of Assad. He is barrel bombing, he is killing.

"Most of the people fleeing Syria are fleeing from Assad, and until we deal with him and come up with a proper solution and deal with the matter in the Middle East, we are not going to get away from these kinds of things.

"What I am interested in is concentrating our mind on is what will actually put this conflict to an end and stop ISIS.

"One thing is their money, another thing is to stop people actually joining them, and a third is not giving them much publicity and allowing them go onto the internet and put out all the nasty, horrific things they are doing which is trying to frighten people."