I am a supporter of the Recall of Parliament although I have not been contacted in relation to the linked story about MPs calling for Parliament to be recalled.
There is an interesting technical point that the House of Commons can only be recalled at the request of government ministers. On the other hand the government's permission is not required for the recall of the House of Lords.
Jack Straw could ask for the recall of parliament.
A challenge, of course, would be to see how many MPs we could get to go to the House of Commons and effectively recall parliament by simply turning up. I am up for that. However, I am one of the few still in the UK. Furthermore I think it is, however, fundamentally wrong that the recall of the legislature is dependent upon the will of the executive. This is a constitutional nonsense.
Dragging Tony Blair back from holiday in Barbados is not going to be that easy, however.
It remains that one of the last debates made it quite clear that the UK Government's position was aligned with that of the Israeli government and that they did not want a ceasefire without the return of the captured soldiers.
It still does not look like any UN resolution will actually produce the goods on the ground. Yes if the Lebanese Army could move into Southern Lebanon and the Israelis withdraw that would probably get sufficient support from Arabs so that it is not seen as the Israelis winning. That might deliver some effort on stopping the missiles flying.
I am not sure that the Israelis (US/UK) could accept that, however.
Russia seems to be playing a waiting game. With France's strong links to Syria it is not surprising that they are playing a key role.
There is an interesting technical point that the House of Commons can only be recalled at the request of government ministers. On the other hand the government's permission is not required for the recall of the House of Lords.
Jack Straw could ask for the recall of parliament.
A challenge, of course, would be to see how many MPs we could get to go to the House of Commons and effectively recall parliament by simply turning up. I am up for that. However, I am one of the few still in the UK. Furthermore I think it is, however, fundamentally wrong that the recall of the legislature is dependent upon the will of the executive. This is a constitutional nonsense.
Dragging Tony Blair back from holiday in Barbados is not going to be that easy, however.
It remains that one of the last debates made it quite clear that the UK Government's position was aligned with that of the Israeli government and that they did not want a ceasefire without the return of the captured soldiers.
It still does not look like any UN resolution will actually produce the goods on the ground. Yes if the Lebanese Army could move into Southern Lebanon and the Israelis withdraw that would probably get sufficient support from Arabs so that it is not seen as the Israelis winning. That might deliver some effort on stopping the missiles flying.
I am not sure that the Israelis (US/UK) could accept that, however.
Russia seems to be playing a waiting game. With France's strong links to Syria it is not surprising that they are playing a key role.
Comments
The recall Parliament wheeze is a canard. It would hardly have changed matters if Blair had adopted the stance preferred by those would rather appease Hizbollah and condemn Israel than think beyond a ceasefire - and, more to the point, it would have limited Blair's ability to influence Israel through diplomatic channels and would have lessened Britain's ability to help and shape a diplomatic outcome.
Let's be honest - for Labour's Compass group and the Liberal Democrats, far too much of posturing is about extracting maximal political advantage than adopting a principled stand. It now seems amazing to me that so many opposition MPs favoured military intervention in Bosnia and Rwanda in the early/mid 1990s. How did they live with themselves?
Quorum is 40. Closure motion number is 100.
100 is the really effective quorum (plus 4 tellers).