Theresa May has responded to claims she is following Donald Trump's "whims" over Syria by giving an enormous, sarcastic eye-roll.

Tory MPs shouted "shame!" as Jeremy Corbyn made the accusation in a hot-tempered House of Commons debate.

The Prime Minister used the debate to condemn the Syria chemical attack as a "stain on our humanity" and insist she was right to take military action.

In her opening statement on Saturday's missile strikes by the US, UK and France, Mrs May said: "We have not done this because President Trump asked us to do so.

"We have done it because we believe it was the right thing to do."

But Mr Corbyn blasted Mrs May for joining with the US before asking for the British Parliament's permission.

Tory MPs shouted "shame!" and Mrs May rolled her eyes at Jeremy Corbyn (
Image:
PA)
Mr Corbyn has accused Theresa May of sticking too close to the US (
Image:
PA)

He told MPs the statement should show "the Prime Minister is accountable to this parliament, and not to the whims of the US president.”

Mr Corbyn also faced an outcry from Tories as he called for "all diplomatic pressure" to be put on Russia and Syria to let chemical weapons inspectors gather their evidence.

Earlier Mrs May had accused Syria and its backers in Russia of trying to hide the evidence of a chemical attack.

But he went on: "We have the grotesque spectacle of a wider geopolitical battle being waged by proxy with the Syrian people being used as pawns by all sides."

Missiles being launched as part of the assault on Syrian chemical weapons sites (
Image:
PA)
It came following an attack on the town of Douma two Saturdays ago (
Image:
Anadolu)

Labour leader Mr Corbyn added: "We clearly need a War Powers Act in this country to transform a now broken convention into a legal obligation.

"Her predecessor came to this House to seek authority for military action in Libya and in Syria in 2015, and the House had a vote over Iraq in 2003.

"There is no more serious issue than the life and death matters of military action. It is right that Parliament has the power to support or stop the Government from taking planned military action."

Read our full story on the debate here or see blow-by-blow updates as they happened here.