RAF fighter aircraft were poised to launch air strikes against Islamic State (IS) jihadists after Parliament gave the green light for military action.

At the end of a marathon Commons debate, MPs voted by 524 to 43 - a majority of 481 - to endorse attacks on the militants in Iraq in support of the United States-led coalition, with Labour backing the Government motion.

Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs - meeting in emergency session - that Britain had a "duty" to join the military campaign as IS posed a direct threat to the country.

"This is not a threat on the far side of the world," he said. "Left unchecked, we will face a terrorist caliphate on the shores of the Mediterranean, bordering a Nato member, with a declared and proven determination to attack our country and our people.

"This is not the stuff of fantasy - it is happening in front of us and we need to face up to it."

The US and its Middle-Eastern allies have already carried out dozens of bombing missions in a bid to stop IS over-running Iraqi positions.

Today's vote gives British military planners the go-ahead they have been waiting for to launch attacks on IS positions in Iraq - but not in IS-controlled parts of Syria where the group has training camps and command-and-control bunkers.

The first wave of attacks is expected to be carried out by RAF Tornado GR4 ground attack aircraft based in Cyprus.

Flying from Cyprus will give RAF fighters an hour over IS-occupied Iraq - more than enough time to choose their targets. The Royal Navy is also expected to deploy submarine-launched cruise missiles.

The Prime Minister recalled parliament following an official request from the Iraqi government. The Conservatives, Lib Dems and Labour leaderships all supported air strikes although some MPs expressed fears that the UK would get drawn into a wider conflict.

Military action was overwhelmingly backed by MPs of all parties from the North-East and North Yorkshire.

However, three Labour MPs - Grahame Morris (Easington), Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley) and Stephen Hepburn (Jarrow) were among the rebels opposing air strikes, while two others - Jenny Chapman (Darlington) and Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) – did not vote.

The Northern Echo:

Hartlepool MP Iain Wright, above, said: “I think there had been a compelling case made. There are two or three elements that really convinced me, because any decision that parliament has to take to commit British military resources is a profound and sombre one.

“The first is this wasn’t Britain unilaterally going into a country almost like an invasion, this was at the request of a democratically elected government of Iraq who is very concerned about the collapse of that state.

“There is a regional coalition, with Arab states involved, it is classed as legal and there are no ground troops.

“That criteria, proportionality, regional cooperation and legality expressed by a democratically elected country, those were the things that clinched it for me.

“Of course, it goes without saying the atrocities that ISIL are carrying out, beheadings of British citizens, threats to others, the recruitment of Jihadists from Britain, we have to stamp this cancer out."

Mr Wright said he had considered the views of his constituents, some of whom had contacted him ahead of the vote, before committing to the Government’s motion.

 “This is an issue where people appreciate the complexity, people appreciate that is not the same issue as was Syria last year,” he said. “It was split half and half. People were saying you have to go in, they have beheaded some of our people, you have got to stop this, there’s a humanitarian crisis and then I had people saying we should not commit to air strikes, violence doesn’t help.

“You have to weigh up the arguments and work out what you think is for the best.”

Mr Wright said he was aware of the dangers of so-called ‘mission creep’ once the bombings began, but felt there would be adequate oversight .

“You are always going to have to have close scrutiny from the parliamentary process, that goes without saying,” he said. “This will come back to the House.

“What was really striking in the minutes after (the vote) is that this was not done flippantly by any member of parliament, there was a really sombre mood in the house and in the corridors of Westminster afterwards. People were realising the gravity of what we have done, but thinking that given the situation this is probably the best approach.”

The Northern Echo:

Conservative MP Julian Smith, above, who represents Skipton and Ripon, in North Yorkshire, also voted in favour.

He said: “ISIL are beheading aid workers, burying children and women alive and planning terrorist attacks on Britain.

“I voted to support Britain's involvement in air strikes in Iraq in partnership with the US and many countries in the Middle East. This military effort is in tandem with diplomatic and aid work by the United Kingdom and others and will have to continue for some time. In my view we must engage with this threat to our country and standing by on the sidelines is not an option.”

Sedgefield Labour MP Phil Wilson, below, said he backed the strikes because: "ISIS is a barbaric terrorist organisation which needs to be eradicated. It is only right that we play an appropriate role in its destruction."

The Northern Echo:

In the House of Lords, the Archbishop of Canterbury backed British air strikes, saying: “The action proposed today is right.”

But the former Bishop of Durham warned: “We must not rely on a short term solution, on a narrow front, to a global, ideological, religious, holistic and trans-generational challenge.

“We must demonstrate that there is a positive vision far greater and more compelling than the evil of [IS].

“Such a vision offers us and the world hope - an assurance of success in this struggle - not the endless threat of darkness.”