First Tornados set off for Syria 57 minutes after vote

The Foreign Office had promised a swift response to any yes vote and it certainly came last night.

Barely had the roaring in the chamber of the House of Commons or the shouts of the protesters died down when we could hear the engines of the Tornadoes at the end of the runway.

It was 57 minutes from the moment that the vote came in that the Tornados took off.

Two in the first sortie and then they were quickly followed by the Voyager refueling aircraft and then a further two Tornados heading out into Syrian airspace for the first time.

Now this is obviously part of an operation that has been tried and tested here at Akrotiri.

Operation Shader has been underway since September 2014 but they could only go into Iraq.

Since then these were the first sorties to actually venture into Syria.

We waited a number of hours and just over three and a half later the first two Tornados returned followed a few hours after that by the second two.

We expect that there will be more airstrikes in the coming days and in the next few hours the additional aircraft that have come from the UK should arrive here.

We understand there will be at least two Tornados and a further six Typhoons.

They will be crucial to this operation in basically supporting those who are already here because operations will continue not just in Syria but also in Iraq.