Monday, 26 February 2007
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The New Deal?
In an interview to the New Statesman in its issue dated 19.02.2007, Hilary Benn, a candidate for Deputy leadership of the Labour party, spoke out against any sort of military intervention against Iran, a statement that makes for interesting reading, especially if one considers the fact that he voted for the war in Iraq. So will this signify a drastic change in British foreign policy if Benn’s statement are taken in to consideration?
Benn has said that the current situation with Iran is very different from the 2003 Iraq scenario and the process of dialogue and debate must be followed in order to reach any sort of understanding. Tony Blair has declared himself at odds with hawks in the US Administration by saying publicly for the first time that it would be wrong to take military action against Iran, in spite of the International Atomic Energy Agency concluded that Iran had expanded its nuclear programme, defying UN demands for it to be suspended. This followed his announcement that 1,600 British troops would be withdrawn from Iraq in the near future.
Blair will be desperate to leave Downing Street on a high note and has nothing to lose by opposing US supported military action against Iran. Members of his cabinet have also denounced any form of armed conflict, which has no doubt angered the White House.
The Labour party knows that it will have to come up with something special to retain power in the 2008 elections, and there’s no other way to do that than to start with a clean foreign policy state. So, will this be Gordon Brown’s version of the ‘new deal?’. Only time will tell.
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