Brian Barder's website and Ephems blog

Category: Politics

International Affairs / Politics

· by · 7 Mar, 2004

Tony Blair on the use of force

Tony Blair’s Sedgefield speech: some of the issues of trust that arise from the Iraq war, not just issues of judgement; his erroneous claim that there is no provision in international law permitting pre-emptive use of force to deal with new kinds of indirect threats such as terrorism and WMD, and that changes in the UN and the Charter are needed for this purpose; some of the arguments for using force against Saddam were inherently sound but the US and UK failed to convince the Security Council of the need for immediate military action.

International Affairs / Politics

· by · 1 Mar, 2004

Did the Attorney General change his mind?

The mysterious case of the Attorney-General’s advice on the legality or otherwise of the Iraq war: did he change his mind and supply advice that appeared to legitimise what the government had already decided to do?

Politics

· by · 1 Feb, 2004

Hutton: one-sided and inconsistent

A critical analysis of the Hutton report on the affair of Dr David Kelly, the questionable government dossier on Iraq WMD, Andrew Gilligan’s fatal report and crisis at the BBC. Conclusion: Lord Hutton’s report dangerously one-sided and inconsistent in its judgements, damaging in its effects on the public interest and prejudicial to the vital independence of the BBC.

Civil Liberties / Miscellaneous / Politics

· by · 19 Oct, 2003

The views of the Archbishop of Canterbury

The views of the Archbishop of Canterbury on the Iraq war and the ordination of gay bishops: challenges to the exemption of the churches and other religious bodies from the new legislation banning discrimination in employment practices on grounds of sexual orientation.