Here's what a single UK airstrike in Syria could fund instead

MPs are set to debate for a whole day whether the UK should begin airstrikes against Isis targets in Syria, as well as Iraq.

The vote appears likely to pass with a majority, after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn decided to grant his MPs a free vote despite his personal opposition to bombing, as well as that of the majority of his supporters.

A typical six-hour airstrike mission for two RAF tornados in Syria would cost around £500,000 per aircraft according to rough estimates by Sky News.

These figures are crude estimates based on a Ministry of Defence report to parliament in 2010, which cited the cost of each Tornado flight as £35,000 per hour, for between four and eight hours in the air.

The ilmfeed website has taken this cost, including missiles dropped, to come up with a quick comparison of the cost to the taxpayer, in equivalent public service occupations' annual salaries.

They found that the expenditure on one airstrike alone could pay for 20 teachers' salaries, or that of 20 police officers, using average salaries.

Or if you compare to donations to the UN's refugee agency, this figure equates to insulating roughly 1,530 UN refugee family shelters for warmth for harsh winter conditions.

Recent polling by YouGov has shown that the majority of the British public are in favour of airstrikes against Isis in Syria.

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