Mounting pressure for parliamentary recall
Pressure for an urgent recall of parliament mounted today as 100 Labour MPs signed a letter to the deputy prime minister demanding a proper discussion of the war in the Middle East.
The letter, which began “Dear John”, asked for the parliamentary recess to end “as soon as practically possible”.
London’s mayor Ken Livingstone said a failure to do so would constitute a breach of democracy.
“Parliament must be recalled to allow MPs to debate a war which is clearly rejected by the majority of the British people – to refuse to recall parliament in such circumstances undermines democracy,” he said.
Jon Trickett, the chairman of the Compass group of leftwing MPs signed the letter by hand. He was joined by former Home Office minister John Denham and former international development secretary Clare Short, who also wrote to the leader of the Commons Jack Straw yesterday, asking for Parliament to be recalled as a matter of urgency.
Mr Prescott has received the letter, and “will respond in due course”, a spokeswoman said.
The politicians calling for a serious discussion of the Middle East crisis are backed by a number of organisations and individuals, including Unison, the Transport and General Workers Union, and the National Union of Teachers.
Oxfam and Islamic Aid are among the twenty charities and committees which have called for a discussion of the war by Britain’s elected representatives.
The foreign secretary Margaret Beckett has cut short her camping holiday to fly to New York for discussions on the Middle East, saying: “The situation is urgent and we need now to complete the task.
“The people of Lebanon and Israel are suffering. I am very concerned about the worsening humanitarian situation in the area.”
Downing Street is hopeful that a UN resolution will be reached within the next 24 hours. But the prime minister remains in Barbados and although he has spoken to UN secretary Kofi Annan on the phone, he has no immediate plans to return to the UK.
Tory MP Ed Vaizey called for a measured response. “I think the summer is perfectly justified and I think we should avoid a knee-jerk response that implies that when Parliament is sitting, that is the only time that MPs are working,” he told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme.
He added: “There is an important distinction to be made between having a summer recess and deciding when it is necessary to recall Parliament. Parliament has been recalled, it was recalled for 9/11, it was recalled for the Falklands.
“I personally did not think it needed to be recalled for the Middle East crisis and I think what has happened [on Thursday] there is probably a stronger case for a recall, although I am not convinced. But that is a separate issue from whether the length of the summer recess is justified.”
