Video: British ambassador: Syrian people see 'no future' under President Assad Speaking on television for the first time since he was recalled from Damascus last week, Simon Collis said: "The regime has been using violence for a year now, it has not been able to solve the crisis through repression. It won't be able to do so. They are launched down a cul-de-sac, they haven't reached the end yet but they can't turn back. Discussing what he saw as the mood of the Syrian people, Mr Collis continued: "There has been a hollowing out of support for the regime and it has become quite fragile - it is a bit like cracks in a dam. My sense is that he [Assad] does still have the uncoerced support of perhaps 20 per cent of the population, perhaps a little bit more. I think most of the rest of the population, if they are not in outright opposition to this regime and the bloodshed it has been responsible for over the last year, at the very least they do not see any future for themselves or for the country as long as the regime remains.  The words come amid a flurry of diplomatic initiatives launched separately by the Arab League, the United Nations, Russia and China - all aimed at ending the year-long tumult in Syria which the UN says has now killed at least 7,500 people.