Ministers break ranks on Middle East

TONY Blair's Middle East policies were called into question by his own government yesterday, as Foreign Office ministers expressed doubts over the Iraq war and Israel-Lebanon conflict.

Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, told the Trades Union Congress she had "regrets" about the handling of the invasion of Iraq, while

Kim Howells, the minister responsible for the Middle East, told MPs the government had failed to explain its Lebanon strategy properly, and even conceded the Prime Minister could have been wrong not to call for an immediate ceasefire.

Whitehall insiders make little secret of the fact the Foreign Office has harboured doubts about Mr Blair's personal command of British foreign policy, and, as his political authority wanes, ministers appear to have fewer qualms about expressing their doubts.

Mrs Beckett, questioned by delegates at the TUC conference, told her audience there were "many things" she regretted about the handling of Iraq.

"Of course there are things that give us concerns. Of course there have been episodes of misbehaviour, of things being done that should never have been done, as well as the inevitable tragic casualties that come with conflict," she said. "There are many things I do regret."

Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, said on Sunday that mistakes had been made in the days after the fall of Saddam Hussein, an apparent reference to the disbanding of the Iraqi army.

Mrs Beckett also expressed regret about the security situation in Iraq. "I don't regret the fact that we are seeing, increasingly in many parts of Iraq, the growth of a peaceful, more secure, stable regime," she said. "But I regret that there are so many people operating in Iraq whose zeal for destruction is such that they want to wreck anything that has been achieved."

Over the summer, Mr Blair angered many Labour MPs by repeatedly refusing to call for a halt to Israeli attacks, arguing a ceasefire could come only when the Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon was dismantled.

But yesterday, Mr Howells told a committee of MPs it was possible Mr Blair could have called for an immediate ceasefire at the same time as pressing for a long-term settlement. "Maybe it would have worked," he said, adding that the government had not properly explained its position to the public. "We didn't do enough and we didn't try to explain it very well. It was a very, very difficult statement to make and it was a difficult position to defend," he said.

Mr Blair, writing in a think-tank pamphlet published today, says western leaders must do more to bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians if they are to be regarded as honest brokers by many Muslims. "The stand-off between Israel and Palestine remains a ... genuine source of anger in the Arab and Muslim world, going far beyond usual anti-western feeling. The issue of 'even handedness' rankles deeply," he writes.

• TUC delegates passed a motion calling on the government not to replace the Trident nuclear deterrent, demanding the estimated 25 billion cost be spent on public services instead.