Glenys Kinnock says 'Yo Blair image' prevents Britain pursuing Middle East peace, as Hilary Benn defends Iraq war but says lessons must be learnt at the Fabian Next Decade conference report.

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A Gordon Brown premiership would take a more independent view of Britain's relationship with the United States, Glenys Kinnock MEP predicted at the Fabian New Year Conference while Development Secretary Hilary Benn was challenged by conference delegates over his support for the Iraq war in the debate over 'The World After Bush'.

'Gordon Brown has said that he wants to take an independent view in foreign policy' said Glenys Kinnock, Labour MEP for Wales. She argued that Brown would recognise that 'allies sometimes have to disagree' and that 'this whole Yo Blair image which now exists' and the one-sided approach Britain had taken on the Lebanon undermined Britain's credibility in pursuing a fair Middle East peace settlement.

But Development Secretary Hilary Benn challenged what he called the 'gross caricature' that Britain falls into line with whatever the Americans want, citing the British government's disagreements with the US over climate change and Guantanemo Bay and over Aids in Africa: 'I fundamentally disagree with abstinence only programmes. Human beings have sex and they shouldn't die for doing so', he said.

The World After Bush

Jessica Studdert of the Fabian Society, chairing the session, said the final phase of the Bush era saw the neo-cons in retreat on all fronts. 'Politically, the mid-term elections saw the Democrats take control of Congress from the Republicans; intellectually, Francis Fukuyama's latest book has declared the neo-con project dead; and diplomatically, the US adminstration has had to take a more multilateral approach to Iran and North Korea because it is bogged down in Iraq'.But those outside the US would largely be spectators in speculating about how America's next President might respond. 'Our question to ourselves should be what Britain and Europe could do to make an alternative and more multilateral approach to foreign policy possible', said Studdert.

Europe had been deeply divided over major crises – not just Iraq but Yugoslavia and Rwanda in the 1990s. The EU's ability to play a more effective role depended on Britain and France finding a rapprochement, said Katwala. 'The Blair-Chirac relationship has got so bad and new leaders have a chance to make a fresh start', but the underlying tensions went much deeper. Glenys Kinnock said that institutional reforms were needed for a Europe of 27 to have a coherent policy: 'Vetoes are a problem in foreign policy. We need the foreign policy reforms which were in the Constitutional Treaty'.

After Iraq

Hilary Benn rejected calls from conference attendees for the government to apologise for the Iraq war. 'I have never thought harder about any decision in politics and I respect those who took a different view. But for me it finally comes down to the question of Saddam Hussein remaining in power or not' he said.

A delegate pressed Benn and argued that the consequences of the war demanded more humility. Benn acknowledged that mistakes had been made: 'The intelligence was wrong; the deBaathification went too far; the disbandment of the army was wrong. The situation now is very grave and we should have the humility to admit that and to learn the lessons. But I can't apologise with sincerity for supporting the overthrow of Saddam - simply because that isn't what I believe', he said.

Fabian General Secretary Sunder Katwala endorsed Benn's call for those who opposed the war to show solidarity with Iraq's democrats: 'We should back the Iraqi trade unions, who are having plenty of trouble with this democratic government on union freedoms', he said. 'But the lack of legitimacy in how we got here makes it much more difficult' Those who invaded must accept responsibility. 'To invade and then cut and run could well be the worst of all worlds', said Katwala.

'This is now a question of how we can have a strategy to deal with what has now become a failed state and to deal with what is now a civil war', said Glenys Kinnock. 'I fear the situation is now almost beyond being able to find a political solution - particularly if George W Bush has anything to do with it. What is needed will be beyond his grasp', she said.

Darfur and human rights

Glenys Kinnock's opposition to the Iraq war did not involve a retreat from the principle of intervention in cases of humanitarian emergency. But the Darfur crisis showed 'a huge lack of political will' in Africa, and the tendency of geopolitical interests to development.

Hilary Benn said that his experience was that 'the government of Sudan needs to be pushed every step of the way' to keep promises made. The government had wanted full UN authority under resolution 1706, rather than a bybrid force, Benn said that the compromise agreement could achieve the objectives of having more troops on the ground and properly financed, though this would make having an effective command and control system more challenging.

But Glenys Kinnock was concerned that 'we could have a piece of paper to say we will impose a no-fly zone while the army are still flying helicopters and bombing villages'. Benn also warned that 'a bigger peacekeeping mission is just a bigger sticking plaster. The only solution is a political solution for Darfur', said Benn.

Katwala said that those who believed the UN was essential to combine human rights with international legitimacy had to resolve a central tension in the UN system – between the universal human rights of the universal declaration and the state sovereignty of the UN Charter. 'That is fine when states protect their citizens as they should, but what happens when they are unable to or when the state itself abuses its own citizens rights?', he asked.

The Responsibility to Protect agenda offered an essential response to this dilemma by reconciling sovereignty and human rights but practical progress had been slow. Kinnock argued that the Darfur crisis again highlighted the vital importance of a standing UN capacity for interventions: 'As Kofi Annan has said, the UN is the only organisation which, whenever there is a fire, has to work out how to buy a fire engine'.

Middle East peace

Hilary Benn said that 'resolving the problems of the Middle East would make the biggest contribution to peace in the world' … [but] what we don't currently have in the Middle East is the leadership on either side that can get us to that point', said Benn, though he said that Mahmoud Abbas forming a Palestinian government of national unity would be an important step forward.

Sunder Katwala acknowledged the validity of a delegate's point about the Hamas victory in the Hamas that the west should not call for democracy and then reject the result if it did not like the winner. 'We should separate two things: We should acknowledge and respect the electoral choice. But, secondly, we need to be clear that the only basis for peace is a two-state solution', said Sunder Katwala. Hilary Benn agreed that 'you can't have a negotiated peace with two sides if one says we don't recognise your right to exist'.

'The tragedy of the Middle East is that it has been clear for a long time, perhaps for forty years, the only basis on which a fair and secure settlement is possible – and how the most difficult questions might be resolved', said Katwala. But both sides needed to be ready to make a deal at the same time, and any progress could quickly be derailed by rejectionists. 'But now the world can not now afford a situation where there isn't a fair settlement', said Katwala.

Glenys Kinnock said that Middle East peace was now 'pivotal' to managing global politics. 'A settlement must provide the security which Israel needs and wants, and provide justice for Palestine. But we need to restore the balance to our own policy. Whle we are seen as ciphers for the unbalanced policy of the United States, we can not be effective'.

Foreign policy: the world after Bush with Hilary Benn MP; Glenys Kinnock MEP and Sunder Katwala, Fabian Society. (Timothy Garton-Ash had to withdraw from the event). Chair: Jessica Studdert (Fabian Society). This panel debate took part at the Fabian New Year Conference 'The Next Decade; on January 13, 2007, at Imperial College London.

The Fabian New Year Conference 2008 will be dedicated to foreign policy. The event is scheduled to take place on Saturday 19th January 2008. You can email suggestions and views to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The Fabian Society will hold a series of foreign policy events in 2007 ahead of the conference.