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Should TB distance himself from GB?

Shanghai Expat Forum Index » Community Discussion Forums » News and Opinion

Poll

Should the UK stay close to the US on the Middle East

Yes

25%

[ 2 ]

75%

[ 6 ]

Dont Know

[ 0 ]

Total Votes : 8

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shanghaiceltic

Shanghai Royalty

Joined: Sep 20, 2005
Posts: 8337
Location: Perth WA
Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 17, 2006 - 11:32 AM
Post subject: Should TB distance himself from GB?

My own opinion is that TB is too close by far.

Ditch US in terror war, say 80pc of Britons
By Toby Helm, Chief Political Correspondent and Philip Johnston

(Filed: 17/08/2006)

A majority of British people wants the Government to adopt an even more "aggressive" foreign policy to combat international terrorism, according to an opinion poll conducted after the arrests of 24 terrorism suspects last week.

However - by a margin of more than five to one - the public wants Tony Blair to split from President George W Bush and either go it alone in the "war on terror", or work more closely with Europe.

Only eight per cent of those questioned by YouGov said Mr Bush and Mr Blair were winning the battle against Muslim fundamentalism.

A majority also wants tougher domestic legislation that would allow police more time to detain suspects while they investigate complex terrorism plots.

Some 69 per cent said that the police should be able to hold suspects for up to 90 days without charge, rather than be bound by the current 28-day limit.

The poll findings will encourage John Reid, the Home Secretary, who has warned the British public that they will have to forgo many of the freedoms and liberties they have grown used to in order to ensure the maximum level of security.

Yesterday Mr Reid highlighted the benefit of European co-operation in the battle against terrorism.

He told a mini-summit of European Union home ministers in London that Europe faced a "very real and persistent threat from a form of terrorism that is unconstrained in its evil. . . and its ability to cause immense harm, death and destruction".

United front: John Reid and Nicolas Sarkozy before the mini-summit
The meeting was "symbolic" of a Europe standing together against the most serious threat faced by modern governments, Mr Reid said.

He contrasted what he called the common EU values of "human rights, democratic freedoms and justice for all" with an "intolerant, violent totalitarianism that seeks to destroy those values, ironically by subverting a religion whose very name stands for peace".

Several of Europe's leading politicians, including Nicholas Sarkozy, the French interior minister, and Wolfgang Schauble, his German counterpart, attended. They agreed that airport checks across Europe had to be harmonised to ensure consistency and prevent terrorists exploiting security gaps.

The survey, carried out for The Spectator magazine, shows that a majority of people now recognises everyday lives will change fundamentally. Seventy three per cent agreed that "the West is in a global war against Islamic terrorists who threaten our way of life".

When asked whether Britain should change its foreign policy in response to terrorism only 12 per cent said it should be more conciliatory, compared with 53 per cent who thought it should become more "aggressive" and 24 per who wanted no change.

People were divided about the Muslim community in Britain. Fifty per cent said "most British Muslims are moderate" while 28 per cent disagreed with the statement and 22 per cent did not know.

While there was strong support for a hard line on terrorism at home, the survey exposed deep-seated distrust of the foreign policies championed by Mr Bush since September 11, 2001. Only 14 per cent believed Britain should continue to align itself with America.

On a recent five-day visit to the United States Mr Blair did nothing to distance himself from Mr Bush - despite pressure to do so from Labour MPs. In the White House he stood shoulder to shoulder with the President, stressing the struggle the West faced against an "arc of extremism" stretching from Afghanistan to the Lebanon.

Some 60 per cent of people thought the war on terrorism would continue for at least 10 years, with 44 per cent of these thinking it would still be going on in 20 years' time.

Fifty per cent of people believed Mr Blair should have broken his holiday to deal with the crisis caused by the arrest of suspects in last week's alleged plot to blow up transatlantic aircraft. Forty three per cent thought he could do the job as well by telephone and e-mail.

Stressing the need for European co-operation, Mr Reid said: "It's very important that the measures that are taken in one country are reflected in other countries because we want equal security for all our countries. We must not have a position where terrorists feel if it is difficult to get through security checks in London, they might be able to go to Paris or Frankfurt or Berlin".

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wolfy
Fire-eater

Joined: Sep 13, 2004
Posts: 2510

Posted: Aug 17, 2006 - 10:41 PM

The UK has to get out of this situation were we are like a colony of America. That can only happen when Blair goes and right now there is nothing to suggest Brown or Reid would do any differently.

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teanosugar

Raver

Joined: Oct 27, 2005
Posts: 495
Location: europe
Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 18, 2006 - 06:29 AM

perhaps a better idea is if the UK distances itself from Blair instead.

Pablo_Picasso
Board Royalty

Joined: May 05, 2006
Posts: 6715
Location: Spain you bloody idiots.

Posted: Aug 18, 2006 - 08:14 AM

Blair should let Bush get on with whatever he's got to get on with. Get out of the Middle East and concentrate on the terrorism that's lurking in the UK. Stop lending support to Israel and he may find less attacks going on.

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LaVecchiaSignora

SuperStar

Joined: July 24, 2006
Posts: 1530

Status: Offline

Posted: Aug 18, 2006 - 08:44 AM

Blair should destroy Lebanon.

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wolfy
Fire-eater

Joined: Sep 13, 2004
Posts: 2510

Posted: Aug 18, 2006 - 11:18 AM

Lebanon's agony pushes Europe to unite

http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/fr/fr060816_ 1_n.shtml

In the morass that is the crisis over Lebanon, there has been one too-familiar strand: the EU's inability to speak with a common voice. The divisions between the big three that opened up over Iraq seem on first glance to have hardened, with the French loudest in calling for an immediate ceasefire, the Germans refusing to countenance troop deployments, and the British huddled in a corner with the US.

The crisis comes at a critical time for the EU as a whole struggles to determine its purpose and its future credibility on the international stage. As Finnish foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja says: "If we fail, we can say goodbye to the EU's influence on international matters."

However, the constellation of European opinion and policy is more complex. France has been the most vocal and taken the lead on the crisis for more reasons than anti-US antipathy. France has long connections with Lebanon, and it is also the major Western state currently capable of deploying troops for the planned peacekeeping force.

German caveats over deployment have much to do with the current overstretching of their troops. And the British unwillingness to wholeheartedly back the French position has been based more on pragmatism than a gulf in ideology.

Public opinion across Europe is heavily against the Israeli action, and although official responses have vacillated between understanding and condemnation, the mood is hardening.

_________________
Good old English spirit! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MG27BKwjaI