UK Conservative Statesman Urges Ditching Necons

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, formerly a prominent member of Margaret Thatcher's and John Major's cabinets, has a lot of experience in fighting terror. He was the first British minister in Lockerbie after the downing of Pan-Am 103 back in 1988. He's been Defence Secretary and Foreign Secretary, is on the board of a major British arms company and is also Jewish with family in Israel.

ConservativeHome.com today reports that he has written for this week's Spectator (not yet online) urging the Conservative Party to move to the Left of Blair and ditch the neoconservative movement entirely. The website focuses on three quotes from Rifkind's article.

"There must be a clear recognition that the invasion of Iraq was a serious mistake that has helped the terrorists. It has also made Iran the power in the Gulf. While the government may be in denial, there is no need for the Conservative party to be. That does not mean, however, that British troops should be withdrawn from Iraq. It is essential that they remain there as long as their presence might help the Iraqis."

"Conservatives should not accept Blair’s simplistic belief that all Muslim terrorism is part of a single plot. Conservatives are rightly suspicious of a Manichaean division of the world into good and bad; terrorist and freedom-loving. The war in Chechnya, for example, is between Chechen nationalists and Russian nationalists, not between terror and freedom. The same applies to Kashmir. The Israeli–Palestinian issue is also much more than a battle against Hamas and Hezbollah terrorism."

"Conservatives should reject a philosophy of pre-emptive wars (or, as Blair prefers to call it, liberal interventionism) fought by ‘coalitions of the willing’."

Well, I've been saying it was in the wind and now here it is. The new Tory leader David Cameron has been flirting with this break for a while but having an elder statemen of Rifkind's stature make such a statement really seals the deal...and by and large Conservatives seem to be very happy with the break. It is also really going to up the pressure on Blair from his own backbenches, where neoconservatism is even more unpopular. There are already calls from Labor MPs to recall Parliament because they are furious at what they see as Blair's mishandling of British policy over the current Middle East conflicts. Being Bush's poodle isn't a policy, its a surrender of sovereignty and there's a definite whiff of rebellion in the air.

This is potentially massive news not only in the UK but also for the future of Anglo-American policy co-operation. After Blair is gone, no-one in UK politics is going to be eager to get the label of America's new lapdog.