British Policy and Parliament

Election 2001 News: Implications for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Introduction by Rebecca Johnson

Coverage also includes:

Election Results as of 10 June 2001:

(Others includes Scottish Nationalists, Plaid Cwmru (Welsh nationalists), Various parties in Northern Ireland, genuine Independents).

(In addition to the 'others' elected above, others here includes Greens, several different brands of socialist, and one No Star Wars candidate, standing for Women for Life on Earth.

Most significantly, turnout across the whole election was the lowest for decades, only 59.2 %, and there were more spoilt ballots than usual. Post election analyses are interpreting the low turn-out as evidence of a lack of engagement, especially by 18-25-year-olds and some minority communities, and a general lack of enthusiasm for the choices presented in this election and the policies of the major parties, including 'New Labour'.

Little debate on BMD

Discussion of foreign policy issues was markedly lacking, apart from the 'Euro' (whether and when Britain should join the EU's single currency and bid farewell to the £). In particular, Labour still seems afraid to discuss nuclear policy with the electorate, despite growing evidence of public concerns, especially about missile defence. After US President Bush's May 1 speech, making clear his intention to move beyond the ABM Treaty and go ahead with missile defence, the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, emphasised that Britain would be glad of the consultations, and refused to be drawn on Fylingdales or Menwith Hill (two bases in Yorkshire earmarked for incorporation into US BMD plans, depending on the architecture). As Robin Cook, Foreign Secretary before the election, had done before, Blair deflected any questions and said that since no request has yet been received from the United States government, there was no need yet to decide on Britain's response. Hoping to stir controversy, William Hague, Leader of the Conservatives, eagerly told anyone who was listening that the Conservatives would give Bush whatever he wanted. Blair's Press Secretary, Alistair Campbell, then casually told reporters that he thought missile defence was 'a good idea'. So the only discussion (a very short-lived squabble) focussed on the Blair-Campbell relationship and not the issue; namely, was Campbell was showing Blair's real opinion, shaping policy, or giving his own personal opinion?

The shift in the US political balance due to Senator Jeffords' defection from Republican to Democrat, which potentially opens the missile defence up more in the United States elicited almost no political comment in Britain. Lady [Shirley] Williams and Menzies Campbell MP (Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords and Commons respectively) both discussed the issue in public, but few in the Labour Party have talked about missile defence and nuclear policy on the doorstep. A long-time peace campaigner, Helen John, who has for several years opposed the US National Security Agency listening base at Menwith Hill, stood on a 'No Star Wars' platform for Women for Life on Earth (a party last seen in 1983 when two Greenham Common women stood against Michael Heseltine and Margaret Thatcher respectively, on a 'no cruise, no Trident' platform). On election night, arguments against missile defence by the No Star Wars campaign elicited a passing response from Tony Blair that the issue was "in my in tray".

KEY APPOINTMENTS

Jack Straw to become Foreign Secretary

Geoff Hoon remains Defence Secretary

Clare Short remains International Development Secretary

Peter Hain returns to the FCO, but as junior Minister for Europe

New Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

In one of the biggest post-election surprises, Robin Cook was replaced as Foreign Secretary by Jack Straw, who had served as Home Secretary 1997-2001. It is clear that Cook had not expected the demotion (he remains in the Cabinet as Leader of the Commons). Analyses of Blair's decision to move Cook have not mentioned the missile defence issue, thought to be one reason why the out-spoken NMD-sceptic Peter Hain was transferred from the FCO to Trade and Industry early this year (see below). Most reports of Straw's surprise appointment have focussed on Cook's strongly pro-European stand and the lack of personal rapport between Cook and Blair and the marked hostility between Cook and Gordon Brown, reappointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Pundits argue the convoluted case that Blair considers that Cook's pro-Euro beliefs might be less convincing in a Euro referendum than Straw's known Euro-scepticism. Although Cook was reportedly also critical of US plans for missile defence, he toed the Blair line in public. Unlike Straw, Cook came into the job in 1997 with a strong background on international and nuclear issues. He was a long-time member of CND (though he resigned before the 1997 election) and had written an influential article in April 1995 about what the real objectives of the NPT regime should be, but he disappointed many by conducting a largely 'business as usual' approach in arms sales and failing to deliver the 'ethical foreign policy' he promised in the early days - which Blair considered a tactical error (the promise, not the failure to deliver).

Jack Straw is an unknown quantity on foreign policy. He is close to both Blair and Brown. He is regarded as a Euro-sceptic. His views on missile defence are not known, but many expect him to follow Blair's lead in seeking to please/appease the United States. Despite having been a student leader in the late 1960s, Straw earned the reputation as Home Secretary for being authoritarian on crime, policing, prisons, immigrants and asylum seekers. After the arrest of General Pinochet for war crimes, Straw first backed the Law Lords' decision to keep him in Britain to face trial, but then caved in under pressure and let the General go back to Chile, apparently accepting the argument that he was too mentally weak to be subjected to the rigours of justice.

Foreign Office Junior Ministers

Peter Hain returns to the FCO, but this time replacing Keith Vaz as Minister for Europe. (Vaz resigned for 'health reasons', under a cloud of persistent financial and behavioural irregularity.) Previously in the FCO as a junior Minister covering non- proliferation, arms control and Africa, Hain was a strong advocate of arms control and disarmament, including for nuclear weapons, and an outspoken critic of US plans for national missile defence. Although his transfer to Energy last year was seen to be a way of sidelining his opposition to NMD, Hain remained loyal to Blair, and is rewarded by being brought back to the FCO. In his new capacity as Minister for Europe, he will be focussing on questions of EU expansion, the Euro etc. He will not have any responsibilities covering wider arms control, and is thus expected to keep a low profile if the missile defence debate hots up in Britain.

Lady Elizabeth Symons remains as a junior FCO Minister in the House of Lords, mainly covering trade.

Although no-one has been appointed Minister to cover non-proliferation, arms control etc (a post covered briefly by Brian Wilson after Peter Hain was shifted to Energy), the arms control brief is to be taken over by Ben Bradshaw MP, one of three parliamentary secretaries appointed.

The other two parliamentary secretaries in the FCO will be Lady Amos and Denis MacShane.

Geoff Hoon remains Defence Secretary

Geoff Hoon is back as Secretary of State for Defence. He was appointed in October 1999, after George Robertson left to become Secretary General of NATO. Hoon was a lawyer by profession and has a very low, almost invisible public profile. He is regarded as a good manager, and seems to have no strong personal views on nuclear policy, one way or the other. He is primarily responsible for the Labour Manifesto's frequent mentions of the importance of supporting the armed forces and readying them for times of crisis, and is understood to be personally in support of the development of an EU-based rapid reaction force, compatible with a US-led NATO.

Minister of State for Defence: Adam Ingram

Parliamentary secretaries: Lewis Moonie, Lord Bach.

Clare Short stays as Secretary of State for International Development

Clare Short stays in the department she has made her own, focussing on international issues relating to aid, poverty, and development. Though formerly well known for regarding nuclear weapons as wrong and wasteful, she protects her department by not straying into that territory as a Minister. She does speak out against the arms trade, however, particular with regard to small arms and the role they play in civil and regional conflicts.

Parliamentary secretary: Hilary Benn (son of Labour leftwinger Tony Benn).

Members of Parliament
Labour	412
Conservatives	166
Liberal Democrats	52
Others	29
Share of the ballot
Labour	41 %
Conservatives	32 %
Liberal	18 %
Others	10 %