Lead story
Secret Iraq war inquiry: WHO IS BROWN PROTECTING?
by Daphne Liddle
GORDON Brown has just heaped another load of trouble on his own head and given his enemies another stick to beat him with by declaring on Monday that the long-awaited full inquiry into the reasons behind the Iraq War will be held in private.
He must have known how ridiculous this decision would appear after his recent promises of more openness and transparency in government. And he must have known the flak he would get from all sides, from the families of dead servicemen, peace campaigners, and military generals – and all at a time when his premiership is getting ever shakier and more vulnerable.
So we can only conclude that what would come out if the inquiry were held in public would be even more damning.
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Editorials
Not in My Name
PELTING Nick Griffin in Parliament Square was good street theatre. The fascist leader and his chief henchman, Andrew Brons, were indeed forced to abandon a press conference designed to gloat over their elevation to the European Parliament.
But the British National Party isn’t going to go away under a shower of eggs. Nor can we simply wish them away by pointing at how poorly they did overall in the European elections that, in any case, were largely boycotted by the people of Britain.
The BNP vote was a racist vote. The BNP exploits concern over mass immigration and cheap labour from the European Union and beyond to garner votes from working people who feel abandoned by Labour. The BNP tries to tap widespread opposition to the European Union in its favour. The BNP argues for white supremacy, cloaked in the language of a patriotism that existed when the British Empire spanned the globe. The BNP even claims it is a workers’ party though its half-baked corporatist theories would put Sir Oswald Mosley to shame.
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