THE government’s chaotic Middle East policy was on the ropes yesterday as Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond tried to fend off calls for an alliance with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Former army chief General Richard Dannatt said a “conversation has got to be held” with the Syrian leader because of efforts to halt the advance of the Islamic State (Isis).

Isis now dominates the Western-supported uprising against the Assad government and has recently won control of huge swathes of neighbouring Iraq.

“The Syrian dimension has got to be addressed. You cannot deal with half a problem,” the retired general declared on the Today programme.

He raised the spectre of British air strikes against Isis on Syrian territory — and added that “it’s got to be with the Assad regime’s approval,” arguing that Britain should admit it had “misread” the situation in the country.

The US is conducting air strikes against the Islamist group. Britain has so far restricted involvement to aid drops and surveillance missions.

But Mr Hammond shied away from any alliance — which would be a dramatic U-turn for a government which tried and failed to win Parliament’s backing for a military assault on Syria last year.

Britain has continued to call for Mr Assad’s removal from power while lending assistance to Kurdish Peshmerga fighters battling Isis in Iraq.

“We may very well find that we are fighting, on some occasions, the same people that he is but that doesn’t make us his ally,” the Foreign Secretary obfuscated on Radio 4’s World at One.

Labour MP Paul Flynn derided the “chaos” of Britain’s foreign policy.

“On August 29 last year the government wanted to attack Syria and remove Assad.

“Now the United States is saying he’s the least-worst option.

“This just illustrates the futility of Western interference. 

“As for Gen Dannatt, he wants a bigger role and more military spending when we already have the fourth-highest military budget in the world.

“We can’t keep punching above our weight and dying beyond our responsibilities.”

Communist Party leader Robert Griffiths said the government’s role in the rise of Isis could not be ignored.

“It’s all very well for generals and politicians to be wise after the event but there was no great mystery about the revolt in Syria,” he said.

“Plenty of us were warning when the government wanted to topple the secular Assad government that helping its enemies would end up strengthening jihadist terrorists.”

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