BRITISH pilots have secretly bombed Syria under the cover of foreign militaries in direct contravention of Tory promises to give Parliament the decision to wage war, human rights campaigners revealed yesterday.

In a rush to justify military action, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon again attempted to ramp up the war rhetoric this week, this time by evoking the Battle of Britain, weeks after he claimed that no action would be taken without a parliamentary vote.

But legal action charity Reprieve said that covert action had already taken place after a freedom of information request to the Ministry of Defence revealed that RAF personnel embedded with US and other forces “operating in Syrian airspace” included pilots flying in “strike missions.”