Labour cabal backs anti-war protests

Clare Short, the former international development secretary who resigned over the Iraq war, said the demonstrations would show Mr Bush that he had made "very serious mistakes".

She renewed her call for the Prime Minister to quit immediately over his "mishandling" of the aftermath of the conflict.

Ms Short’s intervention came as a group of her Labour colleagues urged Mr Bush to meet them during his visit next week to London to discuss the war in Iraq.

The former minister and MP, Tony Benn, has sent a letter to the US embassy asking the president to meet a small delegation of opponents.

He suggested the group would include himself, the Father of the House of Commons, Tam Dalyell, and backbenchers Alice Mahon, Jeremy Corbyn and Alan Simpson.

"We read that you have made clear you welcome the fact there will be meetings held in London when you are here organised by those who opposed the war against Iraq and are critics of the present policy," Mr Benn wrote.

In a separate article, Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary, accused Mr Blair of using "shallow and cheap" arguments to justify the president’s visit.

"It is entirely possible to want warm relations with the American people while keeping a prudent distance from the foreign adventures of President Bush," said the Livingstone MP.

Tens of thousands of anti-war protesters are expected to take to the streets to confront Mr Bush.

The president has welcomed the demonstrations, saying they showed Britain’s tradition of free speech.

Protesters were today due to hold talks with police ahead of the visit. They have vowed to resist moves to create an "exclusion zone" in central London as part of security measures.

The Stop the War Coalition is demanding the right to march down Whitehall, in the centre of London, during a huge demonstration, which could attract more than 100,000 people.

Ms Short said it would be wrong for her to attend the demonstrations as she was still an MP. But she said the protests were important.

"I think people should express themselves," she said.

In an interview with London’s Evening Standard, she said: "George Bush has made very serious mistakes and made the world more dangerous.

"I think it is really important that people say, ‘we feel very strongly that you’re making mistakes, mate’."

Ms Short said Mr Blair should quit straight away for the good of the Labour Party and the country.

"I do think Blair should step down immediately for his mishandling of the aftermath of war in Iraq.

"It is the only way to correct and renew not only my party, but the country and the institution of government."

Ms Short faced criticism for not carrying out her threat to resign until the end of the conflict. She said she did not regret putting off her resignation, but admitted she had failed over the reconstruction of Iraq.

"I sat in the war cabinet and I tried but [Mr Blair] wouldn’t listen to me. It was like they were all so happy that the war had been successful.

"Had I not tried [to lead the reconstruction effort] and had I then seen all this chaos and suffering in Iraq, I wouldn’t have known whether I could have made any difference.

"So for my own conscience I’m glad I tried, even though I failed completely."

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Mr Blair welcomed Mr Bush’s intention to meet the families of British personnel killed in Iraq.

"Clearly, it is important that the sacrifice of those who have died during the conflict in Iraq is recognised, and that that sacrifice is not forgotten."

Bush visit parents attack 'selfish stunt'

THE meeting between George Bush, the president of the United States, and families of British soldiers killed in Iraq was yesterday dismissed by two fathers as a selfish stunt.

Mr Bush wants to meet relatives during his visit to the UK to tell them their loved ones died in a "noble cause".

But Robert Kelly and Reg Keys said the meeting would only benefit the president.

Mr Kelly’s son, Private Andrew Kelly, 18, of 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, was killed in a shooting accident in Basra on 6 May. Mr Kelly, 53, said the president and the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, did not care about the deaths of British troops.

"For these people to meet families, it is only for their own gain. They are not sympathetic towards people like me. They don’t really care that my son lost his life," he said.

"Tony Blair doesn’t care. He doesn’t care about anyone. So what does George Bush care about our families and my family? He doesn’t care."

Mr Kelly, a Falklands veteran and a former Royal Navy Chief Artificer, from Saltash in Cornwall, said he had not been invited to meet the president, and did not want to.

"It would not mean anything to me," he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

"I am not American so I can’t really judge the American president like our Prime Minister."

Mr Keys, 51, said he opposed Mr Bush’s visit, but wanted to meet him to tell him he was responsible for his son’s death.

Lance Corporal Thomas Keys was one of six Royal Military policemen killed by a mob as they defended a police station in the southern town of Majar al-Kabir in June. He was four days short of his 21st birthday.

His father challenged Mr Blair over the death at the memorial service at St Paul’s Cathedral over the war in Iraq.

Of Mr Bush he said: "I am totally against his visit. I don’t know how he has the nerve to show his face after costing the lives of 54 British soldiers for his own glory. I do not see a noble cause. I looked at my son’s body and that did not seem very noble to me.

"He did not die for a noble cause. He was killed by a mob. Bush is supposed to be a religious man yet he went into another country and wreaked death and destruction. That doesn’t seem to be the way God would want people to act."

Mr Keys said that with daily reports of US casualties, he thought even Mr Bush was doubting the wisdom of going to war in the first place.

"This visit is purely political. Mr Bush needs good images flashed back home," he said.