After this normal service will resume. But first, the papers’ views.
Lewis Baston in The Guardian:
The Greens are a far more successful minor party than the BNP, but have so far attracted less attention. They fought on a much broader front, while the BNP is a highly localised force that comes and goes. By contrast, the Greens have staying power and have elected effective and durable councillors.
The departure of Jack Straw is, if the following account is correct, a serious worry – because he was thrown out because he was too much of a “dove” on Iran. (Which might mean that it is impossible to celebrate Britain’s first female Foreign Secretary.)
Ewen MacAskill also in the Guardian:
Mr Straw has said repeatedly that it is “inconceivable” that there will be a military strike on Iran and last month dismissed as “nuts” a report that George Bush was keeping on the table the option of using tactical nuclear weapons against Tehran’s nuclear plants.But Mr Blair, who sees Iran as the world’s biggest threat, does not agree with his former foreign secretary.
But the last word goes to the ever-apt Matthew Parris:
That the Secretary of State for Defence should become the Home Secretary because the former Foreign Secretary has been Home Secretary already and can’t really be Home Secretary again, while he (the Defence Secretary) has already been Health Secretary and can’t be Health Secretary again, and the Leader of the House (who can’t be Defence Secretary because he already has been, but needs to vacate his post so the former Foreign Secretary can have it) has a new “ Europe†portfolio invented for him — and everyone immediately begins arguing about whether he is a Secretary of State for Europe or not — suggests a Cabinet-maker running out of timber. This isn’t a Cabinet, it’s a food fight.
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