Peace protestors breach parliament as ‘democracy village’ hits back
By Ian Dunt Activists camped out in Parliament Square have responded to legal actions against them by scaling parliament and hanging an anti-war banner. The modest banner reads: “We respect the soldiers, we do not support the war.” Yesterday Brian Haw and Barbara Tucker, two long-time protestors outside parliament, were arrested after police arrived with […]
Coalition brushes off foreign policy differences
By politics.co.uk staff The coalition government has brushed off its internal contradictions on Europe during the first full day of debate on the Queen’s Speech. The debate, on defence and foreign policy, threatened to reveal deeply-held splits on the topic of the EU between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. Tory MP Bill Cash asked […]
Army chief quits over Afghanistan
By Ian Dunt The top UK bomb-disposal officer is stepping down, it has been confirmed. Media reports indicate Colonel Bob Seddon, principal ammunition technical officer (Pato), stepped down over concerns about training. The Sun reported this morning that Col Seddon had been concerned about the pressures on troops in Afghanistan. “I am very concerned over […]
Cabinet unity restored on Afghan trip
By politics.co.uk staff Defence secretary Liam Fox has been forced to clarify his position on the role of reconstruction in Afghanistan after an early apparent Cabinet division emerged yesterday. The difference of emphasis between his comments and those of international development secretary Andrew Mitchell has marred their trip to Afghanistan with foreign secretary William Hague. […]
Iraq war divides Labour leadership candidates
By Alex Stevenson Labour leadership contenders Ed Balls and Ed Miliband have spoken out against the Iraq war, but only one of them has defended the conflict outright. Mr Miliband, who also faces challenges from his brother David Miliband and Andy Burnham, said the conflict had led to a “catastrophic loss of trust” for his […]
Cameron welcomes Karzai to Chequers
By politics.co.uk staff David Cameron barely had time to find his way around the Chequers retreat before Hamid Karzai visited today. The Afghan president stopped off on his way back from Washington so the two men could engage in talks before the Kabul conference on June 20th. “The prime minister was delighted to invite President […]
Ukip candidate slammed over ‘blow up’ Iran comments
By Sam Dale A Ukip candidate said he wants to blow up of Iran and that Afghans are “backwards” in comments on a website yesterday. Glenn Tingle, candidate for Norwich North, was responding to a survey on theyworkforyou.com. When responding to a question on Iran’s nuclear weapons programme he said “we should blow them up […]
Poplar and Limehouse: Tory candidate admits Afghanistan doubts
By politics.co.uk staff Britain may have been better off never going into the Afghanistan war, the Tory candidate for Poplar and Limehouse has said. In an outspoken interview with politics.co.uk, Tim Archer admitted he harbours serious doubts about the UK presence in Afghanistan and that he would not have supported the war in 2001 if […]
Afghanistan
With over 10,000 British troops fighting the Taliban, the war in Afghanistan is inevitably shaping up as a major issue of the 2010 general election campaign. But while uncertainty about the ongoing presence of British service personnel is going to be a big talking point among the public, we’re unlikely to see the same handwringing […]
Miliband denies Iraq ‘complacency’
By Alex Stevenson David Miliband has insisted British leaders did not indulge in “vainglorious boasting” after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Appearing before Sir John Chilcot’s panel in central London, the foreign secretary said that complacent back-slapping was “shattered pretty quickly” as problems with post-war planning emerged. Seven years after a US-led coalition ousted Saddam […]
