Yo, Bush...

and she is extremely unhappy about the entire incident.

Ah, that'll be why she's off on a nice holiday, like the rest of the gang.

"Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, is to embark on a gastronomic tour of Europe in her caravan, leaving behind the escalating crisis in the Middle East. As MPs and ministers last night abandoned Westminster for their 76–day holiday...."

http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=1083432006

I'm sure the fires in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon will still be burning when she gets back.

Ewan MacAskill in the Grauniad:

Makes you proud to be British, doesn't it?

So is Bush going to fire Margaret Beckett as well now?

This and Mrs Beckett's reaction to the bombs for Israel (via Prestwick) in ONE 24-hour period. Wow! Maybe -just maybe - the worms are turning!

Can we now hope that a few more cabinet ministers may 'go native' and upset Tony, Dubya and Co?

Geoff (NOT a NooLabour supporter!)

Hmm

That Margaret Beckett is out of her depth as Foreign Secretary is well known, that she was appointed to the FCO job precisely *because* of that is a fairly credible hypothesis. After all, the FCO is historically pro-Arab, and thus distrusted by Blair (and Thatcher, in fact) and tends to end up as a repository for the difficult or the outcast. The *real* foreign policy is determined solely by Tony, George and friends, and what Kim Howells and Margaret Beckett say will not be taken remotely seriously in those circles.

New Labour probably saw the Guardian poll yesterday which said that the country reckons Blair is too closely allied with Bush.

A day later and hey presto - a manufactured dispute that really doesn't amount too much. Bush and Rice will understand it's just grandstanding posturing for the home crowd.

It seems like all Margaret Beckett's unhappiness has achieved is that the Americans are now asking if they can use Britain as a staging post for the bombs they want to give Israel.

I wonder what the chances are of Britain actually refusing such a request. Now that we know the bombs are to be dropped on civilians or the UN where does that put us legally? If I lived in Glasgow I'd want to protest at Prestwick.

I want to know if Hizbollah have a right to bomb Prestwick Airport. After all, didn't the Israelis bomb Beirut airport to stop Iran/Syria/fill-in-whoever flying in weapons?

Yes, "Hizbollah have a right to bomb Prestwick Airport" and we have the right to counterattack. Ain't life sweet.

"I want to know if Hizbollah have a right to bomb Prestwick Airport".

The answer to your question is "No, they don't". Those rules are just for the terrorists and other foreign plebs. The USA and Britain can do anything they like, because they are GOOD. No one else can do anything to the USA and Britain, because we are GOOD and they are BAD.

All clear now?

If you have the program Google Earth you've got to googleearth Prestwick Airport GB. I swear you can see an airplane on the tarmac with USAF clearly written on its right wing. My God. They don't even hide it. Hahahahaha We own the world.

Tom Welsh

Right on. Damn! There's a right thinker on this site.

Attention, chaps: please don`t feed the troll.

Tom -

Agree with your conclusion that Beckett/Howells are marginal figures, but you write that -

"the FCO is historically pro-Arab"

That comment only makes sense if by "pro-Arab" you actually mean diligently supporting the dictators of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, and the King of Jordan. I've never thought those rulers were particularly "pro" their own citizens so your claim is pushing it a bit.

what beckett is concerned about is not the bombs are going to be used by israel in the present war but the fact that the proper procedures have not been followed.

lets not go overboard and read anything much in her stance. she just wants the paperwork to be right.

Alternatively Beckett could well be being used as the hinge in the tried and tested New Labour U-Turn mechanism.

Tony gets to carry on licking George W's sphincter in public whilst certain ministers and officials 'diverge from the party line' and make statements the rest of the world can agree with. Tony fails to decry these publicly and whilst the press are fishing for party rifts the ship slowly comes about. Re-rigging the sails is best performed when the press are momentarily distracted by some other bad news.

On the other hand this may just be a symptom of Tony having fired all his loyal little Bliars and Margaret was all that was left in bottom of the barrel...

Captain Swing
Chap? That is sooooo Gay! Not that there's anything wrong............
By now, Captain Swish

I never thought this was anything other than a bit of public political posturing to fool the media into thinking we still have any pride left. Nick Robinson seems to have come to the same conclusion. I'm disappointed that anybody - particularly on this blog - fell for it.

And yes, it's well-documented that Google Earth shows what appear to be USAF KC135s at Prestwick Airport; conceivably on rendition flights.

I never thought this was anything other than a bit of public political posturing to fool the media into thinking we still have any pride left. Nick Robinson seems to have come to the same conclusion. I'm disappointed that anybody - particularly on this blog - fell for it.

And yes, it's well-documented that Google Earth shows what appear to be USAF KC135s at Prestwick Airport; conceivably on rendition flights.

Ah, my dear Phatballedsealion - you clearly don`t know your British history (assuming that you are British), esp that regarding the roots of the union movement. I suggest you do a google search and enlighten y`self.

There, you`ve had your snack so slap your flippers together and slide away.

NoJags Neil,

I don't think I fell for it, I just hoped...

See what happens when I try, just for a moment to suspend my cynicism;) You are of course correct, it is nothing more than political posturing.

Attention, chaps: please don`t feed the troll.

so why u doin it?

Whatever. Yawn. Later.

I meant pro-Arab *regimes* - I'm not sure the FCO, being the most Establishment of Establishments, have *ever* been particularly pro the people of anywhere, so your point is valid, but in a more general sense.

Sticking my neck out a bit, the ties between the British Establishment and Arab leaderships tend to revolve around arms, oil and the Old School Ties (cf. the late King Hussein and the current King of Jordan). If you go back about forty years you find a lot of Arab airforces flying British aircraft and being trained by Brits (Oman in particular, also Iraq*, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia).

* One amusing consequence of this is that the US in 2003 tried to pretend they were destroying the Iraqi capability to wage war by showing precision bomb footage of what were probably a Hawker Hunter and a MiG-19, both of which were obsolete well over thirty years ago. The Iraqis, presumably learning from the Serbs, had parked their museum pieces to draw the fire.