THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Having driven the British economy into repeated recessions, Prime Minister David Cameron is hot to trot for a little shootup in Syria. What better way to distract the public from the total cock-up he has made of his time in office.

As debate intensified on Wednesday over a possible Western military strike in Syria, Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain would propose a resolution at the United Nations accusing the authorities in Damascus of responsibility for a chemical weapons attack and authorizing “all necessary measures” including force to protect civilians.

The move comes as United Nations inspectors in Syria began a second day of efforts on Wednesday to gather evidence about the attack week ago, a development that has pushed Western powers ever closer to retaliatory military action against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, said the inspectors would need four days altogether to complete their work. Speaking to reporters at The Hague, where he was on an official visit, Mr. Ban said the inspectors had already collected many samples and interviewed victims and witnesses.

Foreshadowing a continued stalemate at the United Nations, a senior Russian official was quoted as dismissing the British initiative while the inspectors were still gathering material. “It would be premature, at the least, to discuss any Security Council reaction until the U.N. inspectors working in Syria present their report,” the Interfax news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov as saying, according to Reuters.

In London, Mr. Cameron’s office said Britain had “drafted a resolution condemning the chemical weapons attack by Assad” and “authorizing necessary measures to protect civilians.”

“We’ve always said we want the U.N. Security Council to live up to its responsibilities on Syria,” a statement said. “Today we are giving its permanent members the opportunity to do that.”

Syria has denied using chemical weapons, blaming antigovernment rebels for the attack.

It is definitely a time for a vote of confidence in Parliament.