Search

Presents the views of British citizens in light of the coming general election. Author's three-day investigation to find out what people are thinking and saying about their lives and their politicians; Comments of British on topics which include Prime Minister Tony Blair, Michael Howard, asylum, the Iraq war; Author's suspicion that there might be a silent majority still supportive of Blair, but embarrassed to admit it; The growing interest in parties of the far right; Conclusion that race, asylum and immigration are uppermost in people's minds.

The article presents an interview with Jack Straw, a British member of parliament and secretary of state for justice in the Labour Party government of prime minister Gordon Brown. In the piece Straw discusses a number of subjects including the importance of avoiding disputes with organized labor, the possibility of military action aimed at Iran and the attitude of former prime minister Tony Blair toward the Iraq War.

This article profiles Peter Hain, Northern Ireland Secretary and candidate for a leading position in Labour Party leader Gordon Brown's government. Hain has declared the Iraq war a mistake and believes the neo-conservative policies have been proven as failed. He pledges to reinvigorate British foreign policy with a strong ethical perspective.

The article presents an interview with Margaret Beckett, in 2006 the Foreign Secretary of Great Britain. The interviewers were of the opinion that the more questions they asked Beckett the more confused she became. She offers contradictory statements on nuclear war, is unable to remember when she left the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and is unclear on aspects of the Iraq war.

Looks at the Hutton report and believes it only makes it harder to determine why Britain joined the U.S. in the Iraq war. Hutton report finding that the BBC was wrong and that Tony Blair and his ministers were right to go to war; The report which does not end the controversy over the war; Remarks by the Prime Minister that he did not deceive his country; Belief of the author that Blair was committed to joining George Bush in the war and sought intelligence to help make the case for him; Lazy assumption by the intelligence community that since there was no proof Saddam Hussein had destroyed weapons it must mean he still had them; Claim of a bigger conspiracy in the U.S. in the use of intelligence to justify the war; List of omissions by Lord Hutton in his report; How the report makes it more difficult to discover the truth; How the report hurt journalism.

Reports that British Attorney General Lord Goldsmith warned Prime Minister Tony Blair that, without a specific United Nations mandate to do so, attempts at postwar reconstruction in Iraq would be illegal. Details of the document written by Goldsmith following a meeting with Blair on postwar occupation, which Blair appears to have ignored; Limitations placed on occupying powers; Efforts of the British to secure a memorandum of understanding with the United States over occupation strategy.

The article presents a conversation from the Hay-on-Wye (Wales) literary festival between playwright David Hare and editor John Kampfner on the Iraq War, satire, and Hare's play "Stuff Happens." Hare talks about literary political commentary on Prime Minister Tony Blair's leadership and his involvement in the Iraq War. He discusses the reception of his play "Stuff Happens," about the lead-up to the war.

Presents an interview with Great Britain's Leader of the Commons, Peter Hain. Comments on the 2005 elections; Views on potential reform of the Lords; Views on the strategies of the Labour Party; View that Great Britain must support the development of democratic government in Iraq; Assessment of U.S. foreign policy; Views on the impact of Prime Minister Tony Blair on Labour Party politics.

Discusses how, on the eve of the Iraq invasion, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush pressured Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, to change his mind on the legality of the war. Background on Goldsmith, who shifted his position twice; Reluctance of Goldsmith to speak about the affair before the Butler inquiry; Goldsmith's opposition to sanctioning military action with United Nations approval; Blair's request that Goldsmith not declare his position formally; How Goldsmith's final document was not the same as his formal legal advice to Blair.

Presents an interview with British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon regarding British forces in Iraq. Criticism Hoon received over the redeployment of British troops in Iraq; Discussion of proposed changes to the structure of the armed forces; Claim that the main task of U.S. and British forces in Iraq is to help ensure that elections planned for January 2005 can take place; Discussion of why Great Britain went to war in Iraq; Lack of weapons of mass destruction in the possession of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein; Concerns over the legality of the war; Reference to the Hutton Inquiry.

Presents an interview with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in 2004. Discussion of British military action in Iraq; Justification for the Iraq War of 2003; Report that the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan declared that the military action in Iraq was illegal; View of Straw regarding the United States President George W. Bush administration; Discussion of Iran's refusal to comply with nuclear inspections.

Focuses on the stance of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on the neo-conservatives. Conversation of Powell with U.S. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, described by James Naughtie in his book "The Accidental American: Tony Blair and the Presidency"; Attempt of Powell to persuade U.S. President George W. Bush to seek United Nations' resolution for war; Treatment on Powell by the neo-conservatives.

Focuses on British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his reaction to criticism. His dismissal of the House of Commons during the latest debate over Iraq; Miscalculations made by Michael Howard that ended optimism for a new leadership; Strategy used by Blair to control the Conservatives; Robin Cook and John Gummer's criticism of Blair; Idea that Blair is being urged to do "the Baghdad bounce"; Outlook for Blair to run a third term.

Examines Lord Butler's report and what it means for British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The report's criticism of Blair's political leadership; Issue of competence; How, in the decision to go to war with Iraq, Blair has been found wanting; Highlights of the report; questions surrounding Blair, including the legal advice presented by Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, days before the invasion; Background on Blair's decision; View that Blair's lack of political accountability was highlighted in the events immediately after publication of Butler's report; Reference to the Hutton report.

Focuses on British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his position on Iraq. Blair's belief that history will vindicate his decision to go to war in Iraq; Indication by Blair's advisers that he may express regret for misleading the country regarding the mistaken intelligence on Saddam Hussein's chemical and biological weapons; Hopes for improved security in Iraq and reduced press coverage of the subject; Difficulties disconnecting Iraq from broader discontent with the government, and Blair in particular; Argument of David Blunkett, one of several influential cabinet figures who do not share Blair's scenario; Belief of a sizeable part of the Parliamentary Labour Party that Blair's position remains vulnerable; Blair's strategy; Outlook.

Offers a look at the British opinion of Prime Minister Tony Blair as of May 2004. Involvement of Blair in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq; Impact of photographs of the torture of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers in Iraq on the British public opinion; Statement that British Labor Party ministers are pondering when Blair should resign as prime minister; Predictions for the elections of June 10, 2004; Relations between Blair and United States President George W. Bush's policies in Iraq; Possibility that Gordon Brown will become the next prime minister of Great Britain.

Interviews Charlie Falconer, Lord Chancellor and close friend of Prime Minister, Tony Blair. How Falconer is proceeding with constitutional reforms; Plan which would have dismissed hereditary peers which has been shelved for now with the Blair government looking to reform the House of Lords first; Lessons Falconer has learned from other ministers who have initiated change; Timetable for the enacting of the changes; Expectation that the new plan for the separation of the executive and judiciary will be completed by next year; Falconer's defense of Blair and his policies; Thoughts on Gordon Brown; Thoughts on the EU constitution referendum, the possibility that Britain will adopt the euro and conduct of the war in Iraq.

Offers analysis of the legal foundations for British Prime Minister Tony Blair's involvement in the 2003 Iraq War. Concerns of Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith about the legality of the occupation of Iraq; Attempts of Blair to convince United States President George W. Bush to seek a United Nations resolution for an attack; Inquiry into pre-war intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction; Role of Christopher Greenwood, professor of international law at the London School of Economics, as an advocate of humanitarian intervention; Warning by Goldsmith that without a United Nations mandate, all attempts at postwar reconstruction of Iraq would be unlawful.

Contends that British Prime Minister Tony Blair is in a bind, since he cannot admit the blunders that led to the Iraq War, in both diplomacy and intelligence. Questions over what Blair knew; The compromised intelligence sources on Iraq; Issue of Iraq and weapons of mass destruction; Background on United Nations inspectors in Iraq; Significance of the events of September 11, 2001; Historical background; Outlook for Blair and his officials trying to explain their decision to rush to war on the basis of weapons of mass destruction.

Comments on British politics, the new Labour party, and Tony Blair. Background on the inquiry into illegal sales of arms to Iraq, other scandals under John Major, and media manipulation; Details of Lord Justice Scott investigation of arms sales and the strategy of Major; View that Blair will be impacted by the Lord Hutton verdict in the David Kelly case; How the case is being assembled against the government by Michael Howard; Defense strategy of the government; How Blair has shifted his position since the start of the Iraq war concerning evidence for the existence of weapons of mass destruction. INSET: Blair's changing line on WMDs.

Focuses on the political fate of England's prime minister, Tony Blair. Speculation about Blair's health; Decrease in odds that he will lead the Labour party into the next general election; Domination of the year 2003 by the war against Iraq; Speculation that Blair signed on to the United States' war effort prematurely; Status as the longest serving Labour prime minister; Sullen mood of the Labour party.

Focuses on Peter Hain, Leader of the House of Commons in British Parliament. His view that there is a crisis in the political class, which is defined as journalists, government and opposition politicians; His analysis of the relationship between mass media and politics; How his position on the Iraq War has changed, despite his advocacy for the ouster of Saddam Hussein; Details of his world-view of progressive internationalism that would intervene to protect human rights; His opinion on domestic issues, such as the euro and the Labour Party government.

Discusses how Prime Minister Tony Blair decided to commit Great Britain to support the United States in its invasion of Iraq. Mention of Blair's foreign policy views since 1994 when he became Labour Party leader; His interest in diplomacy and the meetings organized by Jonathan Powell that promoted the view that relations with the U.S. should be the foundation of foreign policy; The challenge of handling the George W. Bush administration; Impact of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; How the January 2002 State of the Union speech of U.S. President Bush affected Blair's confidence; The role of a resolution in the United Nations in securing Blair's commitment to war.

Discusses the death of David Kelly. Comments on the Iraq War; Role of Tony Blair; Resignation of Alastair Campbell; Evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; Issues at the British Broadcasting Corp.

Offers the view that the United States is redirecting its war on terror, after military action in Afghanistan and Iraq, to a third front, Syria. Dissemination of information to the media by U.S. Brigadier General Vince Brooks; Incongruity of war and the happy press releases given by the U.S.; Details of a briefing by U.S. Navy Captain Frank Thorp about the sporadic fighting and resistance in Iraq; British relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad; Role of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in supporting the American intolerance of regimes in Syria and Iran; Description of the American presence in Doha, Qatar.

Discusses the relationship between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush. Consideration of how British Chancellor Gordon Brown is supportive of the war in Iraq; Cost of reconstructing Iraq; Assessment of the funding for public services in Great Britain; Speculation about economic recovery.

Examines the state of world politics after the 2004 reelection of U.S. President George W. Bush. Analysis of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's support for the U.S.-led invasion and reconstruction of Iraq; Decision of several European nations to remove their troops from Iraq; Criticism for U.S. foreign policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict; Prediction that Bush will ask the United Nations to place an ultimatum for Iran's nuclear disarmament; Discussion of the challenges to political cooperation between the U.S. and Europe.

Offers an opinion on the ongoing violence in Iraq and how Prime Minister Tony Blair and aides are trying to spin it. Declaration by Blair of a "war on terror" which worked well for President George W. Bush in 2001; Suspicion of the author that this "new " war declaration is designed to make the arguments against the old war moot; Belief that Blair is exposed politically even more than before with waning worldwide support for the Iraq War; Thoughts on how the loss of the US presidential race by George W. Bush could leave Great Britain holding the proverbial bag.

Relates the author's experience being questioned by Lord Butler. Request that the author substantiate a number of points in his book "Blair's Wars," particularly the assertion that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had doubts about the intelligence on Iraq; Nature of the questioning during the session.

Focuses on the legal implications from the decision of British Prime Minister Tony Blair to invade Iraq. The role of Lord Butler and his investigation; The legal opinion of Lord Goldsmith; Concern about the prosecution of five peace activists in the Court of Appeal; Issue of whether British courts have jurisdiction over lawfulness of military action; Argument in the paper submitted by Sir Michael Jay, permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office; Background on the test case, which came out of a High Court ruling on the concept of "crime against peace".

Claims that British Prime Minister Tony Blair has made it difficult for any future prime minister to convince the public of the case for war. Problems of intervention; Intangibility of the threat of inaction; Inability of proponents of the Iraq War, 2003, to convince the United Nations of the necessity for action; Problems with British intelligence information prior to the Iraq War; Criticism of Blair's presentation of the dossiers; Need for a review of the link between the Joint Intelligence Committee and ministers; Failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Offers observations on the Hutton inquiry, a British governmental investigation into the death of weapons expert David Kelly and his ties to the administration of Prime Minister Tony Blair. Failure of BBC journalist to clear up the impression that press secretary Alastair Campbell was the only [person responsible for the manner in which intelligence about Iraq prior to the Iraq War was presented to the public as justification for war; Contents of the diaries of Alastair Campbell, which were reviewed in the investigation; Possible conclusions of the inquiry.

Offers observations on a speech by British Chancellor Gordon Brown to the TUC conference. Reaction to the speech; Issues he addressed, including foundation hospitals and the Iraq war; His admonition to support Prime Minister Tony Blair in reconstruction efforts in Iraq; Suggestion that Brown will be hampered by Blair's weakness as prime minister.

Suggests that the war with Iraq has erased the world wide popularity of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Ramifications for U.S. President George W. Bush; Views of French leader Jacques Chirac and German leader Gerhard Schröder that the failure to uncover weapons of mass destruction and botched reconstruction proves the United Nations' reluctance to endorse the war was valid; Theory of liberal intervention which is seriously damaged; Opinion that future military actions are less likely; Example of new found reluctance in war which is seen in Liberia and North Korea where caution appears to reign.

Offers observations on the imminent conclusions of a British governmental investigation into the possibility that Prime Minister Tony Blair and others in his administration used dubious means to convince the British public of the necessity of an attack on Iraq. Inadequate respect afforded British investigative bodies in government; Suggestion that there will be little fallout from the affair; Relations between the British Broadcasting Corp. and the Blair administration.

Focuses on the military industrial complex and the potential for misplaced power in the United States. Discussion of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, the U.S. Department of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, and Paul Wolfowitz from a British perspective; Mention of the coverage of the Iraq War, 2003.