pretext for Marines supposedly to fight turned out to be a ligment of ministers imag Even Washington denied any knowledge of intelligence, the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office were denying it too.
But by then the decision had been made to dispatch the troops who returned having fired not a single shot in anger, alter seeing neither hid not hair of a Taliban or al-Qaeda fighter in their tour of Afghan mountain scenery.
However if ministers had decided H icspond to by dispatching but HUCICHE countless innocent lives have been lost, and untold damage done to Hoon, however, unrepetentant utterly committed to the new policy of threarAsked in the Commons on April 29 if the government had abandoned the long-standing policy of successive governments that nuclear weapons should "wennons of last resort", Hoon stressed that while the form of words remained, the policy had indeed changed:
After winning a landslide win on the Labour Party's lowest ever share of the vote in last year's general elechave since tion, Tony Blair's team has been plunging in the popularity stakes aster than Enpland's World Cup song. The belated ditching of the shifty and terminally useless Transport been enough to salvage the dwinnot fling credibility of a government missiles, but has wound up so similar to the Fories they replaced. Seaze has continued to dos New and Labour, and the continuing debate over the inks between the self-styled squeaky clean, bible-bashing Blair and the donations from Doily Richard Desmond has filled many regarded a5g column inches for journalists bored with Alistair Campoeis inertecare spin, and hungry for news. Even Blair's efforts to bask in the Drumming up another donation? reflected glory of the Royal Jubilee were soured by the long-running row over the apparent, botened attempts of his office to muscle in on the Queen Mother's funeral. Now, as the England football for the airport, an opinion poll just after their defeat by Brazil has shown Labour support just 3% ahead of lain Duncan Smith's anonymous bunch of faceless Tories - and the horrible thought arises that maybe British politics are not tinent of Europe, where failed social democratic governments ve been ousted one after anocher y right wing opponents.
Even before the inflated dreams of football success were so ruoely punctured by the skills of a clearty superior team it was obvious that Labour's star was on the wane.
Earty in June, just after Byers inally fe on his sword. an ICM poll for Radio 4's Today programme showed 54% of respondents had less trust in the government than a year ago: more people thought the least trustworthy party. policy, 6596 on health and 51% on Perhaps even more worrying fo Blair as he cuddles ever closer to his new pal Georse W. in the UsA opinion polls abo now show a clear majority opposed to arry military attack on Iraq New Labour's policies are unrav. elling, and the opposition to them in the unions is conanung, to gain strength, with the prospect of more strikes to come from public sector unions. But the lesson from Europe must he lesmed by the left, too: it is not enough to see social democracy discredited - a credible socialist Sen mikoe bulle orie only beneficiaries from Labour's decline would be the far rightd, and IDS's hopeless, reactionary shower of Tories, seeking to outdo Blair trom the ngi