Labour dissent grows over Middle East policy
Parliament is “haemorrhaging public confidence” by failing to return early to debate the crisis in the Middle East, a Labour backbencher has warned.
Jon Trickett, who has led calls by more than 100 MPs for parliament to be recalled from its summer break, warned that the House of Commons was the only place in the UK where conflict between Israel and Hizbullah was not being properly discussed.
“These issues are being debated in pubs, clubs, places of work and worship, TV studios and newspapers. The only place in which government direction can properly be explained and – if necessary – challenged is parliament,” he wrote in The Guardian.
“And yet parliament remains stubbornly in recess, a ghost chamber, silent and empty, symbolic of a democracy that is haemorrhaging public confidence.”
Yesterday, a Conservative backbencher added his calls to the campaign to recall parliament, regardless of the success of the UN resolution that has led to a ceasefire. So far, the campaign has mainly been backed by Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs.
Tory leader David Cameron has insisted it would not be right to recall parliament at the moment but Suffolk South MP Tim Yeo insisted ministers should be “called to account” for their handling of the crisis in the Middle East.
“I hope the government will now accept that parliament should be recalled so that they, the government, can be called to account for their performance in recent weeks,” the Tory MP told a debate on BBC Radio Four.
Last night, Labour MPs gathered around to support the deputy prime minister, who reportedly described the Bush administration’s attitude to the Middle East and the roadmap in particular as “crap”.
While Mr Prescott himself denied making the remarks in a private meeting on Tuesday, nine Labour backbenchers have told The Independent that this sentiment reflects the view of many in their party.
“It may not go down well in international diplomacy… but in the Labour party it will be welcomed as a rare flash of honesty from a senior member of the government,” Peter Kilfoyle said.
Mr Prescott reportedly said that he had only backed the US on Iraq because president George Bush had promised to work to resolve the problems between the Palestinians and the Israelis, but on this they had been “crap”.
Glenda Jackson said she “entirely endorsed his view”, adding: “This is why parliament should be recalled. This government is failing miserably as far as our approach towards the Middle East is concerned.”
Only the government has the power to recall parliament, but today Mr Trickett insists this is “highly undemocratic”, and calls for this power to be passed to the Commons speaker.
He dismissed Downing Street’s arguments for why parliament should not come back early, saying: “The truth is that the government simply did not want to have to justify its conduct during the Middle East crisis in the House of Commons.”
