MPs outraged by Gaza suffering
By Alex Stevenson A growing number of MPs are backing urgent intervention in the Gaza Strip to prevent the ongoing violence there. Violence between Hamas and Israel is continuing for a sixth successive day in the Palestinian territory with the death toll approaching 400. The airstrikes which have caused the deaths appear to be only […]
Alexander wants Gaza access as UK pledges $10m
By Alex Stevenson International development secretary Douglas Alexander has expressed his frustration after Israel refused to grant a 48-hour ceasefire of its air campaign against Gaza. The Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory has seen nearly 400 deaths in the last five days as international concern about the humanitarian situation on the ground continues to grow. Britain has […]
Miliband: Israel airstrikes will fuel radicalism
By politics.co.uk staff Foreign secretary David Miliband has warned Israel’s airstrikes on the Gaza Strip represent a “very dangerous and very dark moment” for the region. More than 300 people have died since the operation targeting Hamas began on Saturday, the majority of the dead from the Islamist group’s security forces, as ground forces swell […]
Mistakes ‘may have doubled Iraq stay’ for UK troops
Former defence chief of staff General Sir Mike Jackson has hit out at coalition forces’ post-invasion strategy in Iraq. Sir Mike was Britain’s most senior military officer during the 2003 invasion which ousted Saddam Hussein from power and his comments will add weight to opposition MPs’ calls for an inquiry into the prosecution of the […]
Calls for Iraq inquiry reach fever pitch
Demands for an inquiry into the war in Iraq are reaching fever pitch today, with Gordon Brown facing a coalition of opposition parties in the Commons. Returning from the region to tell MPs about the timetable for withdrawal, which would see UK troops home buy next summer, Mr Brown was faced by sustained calls for […]
Troops coming home from Iraq by mid-2009
British troops will exit Iraq by the middle of next year, Gordon Brown has announced in an unexpected visit to Iraq. The prime minister met with his Iraqi counterpart Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad for discussions on British forces currently on overwatch duty in the south of the country. He announced troop withdrawals would begin from […]
Brown condemns Israeli settlements
Gordon Brown has issued a condemnation of Israeli settlement-building in the Middle East ahead of a visit by prime minister Ehud Olmert. Mr Olmert’s trip come one day after that of his Palestinian counterpart Salam Fayyad. Speaking at a press conference with Mr Fayyad yesterday, Mr Brown described the settlements in the West Bank as […]
Afghan operations costing £2.3 bn a year
The Ministry of Defence has revealed it expects the cost of operations in Afghanistan to increase by 54.1 per cent next year. A Commons report revealed the MoD was forecasting costs of £2.318 billion for 2008/09, up from £1.505 billion in the previous 12 months. According to the House of Defence Committee, much of the […]
Iraq withdrawl triggers inquiry calls
The announcement that British troops are set to withdraw from Iraq has triggered further calls for an inquiry into the war. The government has repeatedly cast aside demands for an inquiry with the reasoning it would be unhelpful while combat operations are ongoing. “Now that Brown’s fig leaf of a major British operation is set […]
Bush admission fuels Iraq inquest demands
President George Bush’s admission, in an interview for ABC, that his “biggest regret” was the “intelligence failure” on Iraq has led to renewed calls for a UK inquiry into the war. Edward Davey, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, has sent a letter to Gordon Brown asking him to include a bill for a public inquiry […]
