Saturday, July 3, 2004, 1:51:08 PM, John McCreery wrote: JM> Any thoughts? As you'll know, Blair was badly bashed in the recent local council, European Assembly, and London Mayoral elections ("Super Thursday") and the War on Iraq was a major factor (not the only one). But he himself is not, it seems, going to back down re his support of that War (unless I've missed something...) >> TONY Blair is to drop his policy of unflinching support of George >>Bush's foreign policy, deciding that the handover of power in Iraq >>has now released him from his diplomatic obligations. It'll be interesting -- of course he implicitly, anyway, attacked Bush's opposition to Kyoto and our Attorney-General has attacked Guantanamo Bay, but Foreign Policy is perhaps another matter... there have been lots of "leaks" re our Army's unhappiness about the way Iraq has been Occupied, but they've been going on since before the elections. >> Straw criticises Americans for demobilising Iraqi army >> >> Key quote "It's hardly a great surprise that I don't subscribe to a >> neoconservative view of life" - Jack Straw, Foreign Secretary Right. (It isn't.) Jack Straw holds some very right wing views on home affairs (also some left ones) but on foreign policy is left and/or pragmatic: I've read we got those sailors back so easily because, in large part, of the years he's put into diplomatic approaches to Iran (and elsewhere). Whatever... the man is no neo-con.. >> and Geoff Hoon I have heard things about Hoon that suggest he's left-ish (and committed to social equality) but the suggestion he has independent views on foreign policy comes as rather a surprise! I think it was Diane Abbott who said she had never ever, since he joined the Commons, known him to have an independent view on anything... still, could be true, or could be, he's going to be told to say the things Blair can't... (Straw will say what he wants to anyway) er.. those are my off-the-top-of-my-head thoughts. Final comment -- the men who own The Scotsman have bought The Torygraph, should that be, ex-Tory-graph? <manic laughter> >> -- Best regards, Judy mailto:judithevans001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html