Huzzah & About Time!!!

Brown plans to banish the legacy of Blair by engaging with Iran
By Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor
Published: 08 May 2007

Gordon Brown is ready to hit the ground running after Tony Blair resigns with an ambitious strategy for his first 100 days in office that will herald a radical change of approach on the Middle East and the NHS and a clean-up of Whitehall.

He will use the departure of Lord Levy, the Prime Minister's personal envoy to the Middle East, to signal a fundamental change of approach on Iran and Iraq - where Mr Blair's foreign policies have bequeathed a legacy that could cost Labour the next general election.

As a priority, the prime minister-in-waiting will seek to engage Iran directly in talks over the future of Iraq - possibly through the EU - soon after Mr Blair quits in June. Mr Blair was reluctant to criticise the Bush administration after the White House rejected the recommendation of the President's Iraq Study Group to hold talks with Iran. The US has since begun to shift, but Mr Brown believes a major push towards engaging Iran in the Middle East must be made to avoid a disaster in the region.

Poodles no more.