SHADOW foreign secretary Hilary Benn’s “specious” evocation of the International Brigades’ heroism as justification for Britain joining the aerial bombardment of Syria provoked outrage yesterday.

Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday night, Mr Benn sought to draw parallels between the fight against fascism in the 1930s and ’40s and the case for further British military action against the Islamic State (Isis) terrorist group.

Mr Benn said: “We are here faced by fascists — not just their calculated brutality, but their belief that they are superior to every single one of us in the chamber tonight, and the people we represent.