A New Forest MP has warned against idealising opposition groups in Syria following the fall of Bashar Assad's regime.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Sir Julian Lewis, the MP for New Forest East, cautioned against idealising the opposition in such scenarios, and said: "Some of what I have heard today reminds me very much of what I heard in this House after the downfall of Saddam Hussein and of Muammar Gaddafi.

"The truth of the matter is that in Syria it’s a choice between monsters and maniacs."

His comments come after foreign secretary David Lammy labelled Assad as the "rat of Damascus" who fled to Russia.

Mr Lammy, responding to Sir Julian, the former chairman of the intelligence and security committee, said: "He will recognise that Turkey has the most complex of relationships with HTS. In fact, many have forgotten that HTS are a proscribed organisation in Turkey.

"Turkey also has legitimate terrorist concerns, which it has raised with this country on a number of occasions.

"Notwithstanding the complexity of the situation, we have to work with all groups in an inclusive manner, but I will be really clear that in the UK, we remain concerned about Daesh, and about extremism in camps that we know exist in the north-east.

"We are vigilant about those issues, and we are happy to—we have to—work with Kurdish minority groups, who will assist us in that enterprise."

This follows the rise to power of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Syria.

The group remains a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK due to its past ties with al-Qaeda, despite its leader severing relations and attempting to portray HTS as a more moderate and inclusive group.

Assad has since claimed asylum in Russia and its government has confirmed he is in Moscow.

Mr Lammy added: "How fitting he should end up there. We see streets of Syrians cheering his demise, tearing down his statutes and re-uniting with loved ones who had been disappeared.

"We have long hoped to see him gone and welcome the opportunity this brings for the people of Syria."

Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel also urged the government to ensure that no asylum claims from former members of the Assad regime are accepted in the UK.