Richard Bridger predicts that Tony Blair will fail in his Middle East task, but not necessarily for obvious reasons

Peter Hennessy gave a really good interview of 18 Doughty Street last week in which he described in a relaxed way what he thought about many topics- ranging from the Falklands War to nuclear armament under Attlee. Its well worth listening to and is here.

Amongst the things he said though was his argument that during the Iraq war the Labour Cabinet behaved irresponsibly. None of the members of the cabinet asked for the legal advice to be given to them, it was the Permanent Secretary at the MOD and commander of the army who asked for it and none of them asked for written argument about the war even though the Cabinet Office had actually prepared such a statement for them to read.

Your comments are invited on the subject of the UK's involvement in Afghanistan. If you are to contribute, could you please not wander off thread on to the subject of the Greater Middle East, as this subject will be dealt with in a separate thread to be posted in the near future.

PES calls on UN & Israeli Labour Party

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, the President of the Party of European Socialists - which brings together Europe's leading social democratic, socialist and labour parties - today launched an appeal to the UN Security Council to step up its efforts to bring an end to the fighting in the Middle East.

Having spoken to several European Socialist and Social Democratic Foreign Ministers in recent days, PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said "I strongly support the EU Foreign Ministers' resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities followed by a sustainable ceasefire. It is a very clear and strong united political message , thanks not least to the Finnish Presidency, and I welcome the  mandate given to Javier Solana."

"This conflict cannot be resolved by military means, and with every woman and child killed it becomes more counterproductive. I appeal to the UN Security Council to call a halt to the fighting."

"I appreciate the tremendous efforts made by Kofi Annan to achieve a stronger UN response and I urge the Security Council to act decisively."

"This is an international conflict which cannot be solved without international involvement. The UN Security Council must act now to stop the killing."

"We need a peace that guarantees the security of Israel, Lebanon and Palestine. The EU must play a decisive role in mobilising the international force under UN mandate that would maintaining that peace."  

Rasmussen also called on the Leader of the Israeli Labour Party - Defence Minister Amir Peretz - to be a voice of moderation in the Israeli Government. "The Israeli Labour Party is a member of the Socialist International and an observer at the Party of European Socialists and should heed our calls for an end to the fighting."

With the resignation of Jim Sheridan (parliamentary private secretary to the defence team) dissent from some members of the Government has become more apparent.

AS. Heath on how this new Middle East crisis is like manna from heaven for a lame-duck President and a struggling Republican Party.

Compass has issued a statement criticising the Government for not calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Such a call is an understandable response to the continued media coverage and particularly to incidents like the reported attack on UN observers yesterday. But it is not enough.

Foreign office Minister speaks out

Are Israel playing a game of chance in Lebanon?