A feeble surrender to one-man rule

Last updated at 15:55 05 August 2006

Whatever the reason for his sudden about-turn in putting off his holiday - a step he ruled out only hours before - Mr Blair's decision confirms the dangerous and deeply worrying vacuum at the heart of this administration.

Has our system of Cabinet government ever been so enfeebled and impotent to hold a Prime Minister in check?

Mr Blair clearly doesn't trust John Prescott to mind the shop while the crisis in Lebanon deepens. Understandably so. Nor does he have faith in the Foreign Secretary he appointed a couple of months ago, the floundering Margaret Beckett.

But if neither of them are up to the job, can't the same be said about this oneman-band of a politician who promoted these duffers, has 'complete inner confidence' in himself, never listens and is allowed to do just as he likes?

Nobody can pretend Mr Blair has distinguished himself in this crisis. He is so compromised by his supine support for President Bush that the UN humiliatingly tells him to keep his nose out of Lebanon, for fear of making matters worse.

Now Jacques Chirac has become the key European player in the search for a ceasefire, while Britain's influence dwindles. We no longer carry much weight in the Middle East or anywhere else outside the Washington beltway. Even there, we exert little leverage.

And now Mr Blair's good faith is in question, since it seems he knew all about Israel's plans to start bombing, but didn't bother to tell his own Ministers.

Indeed, he didn't even trouble to hold a Cabinet meeting this week, though he admits many colleagues 'profoundly disagree' with his refusal to condemn Israel's 'disproportionate' actions.

But then, the Cabinet - once so powerful that even Margaret Thatcher had to listen - is now a pitiful cipher. Ministers wring their hands in private about the damage Mr Blair is doing to Britain's reputation, but fail to hold him publicly to account.

Instead, they allow him to get away with it as he ignores an emasculated Foreign Office and relies on his own flawed judgment, just as he did before his dishonest and disastrous war in Iraq. No wonder so many former ambassadors are queuing to denounce him.

So who can rein in the dictatorial Mr Blair, if the Cabinet won't?

The Civil Service is neutered. Parliament is in recess. Opposition parties, who could insist on a recall, are proving utterly useless. Public opinion is brushed aside. Labour supporters, who loathe the Prime Minister's subservience to Mr Bush, may protest by electing peace campaigner Walter Wolfgang to the party executive, but it makes no difference.

There are no checks or balances to constrain 'President' Blair as he adds Lebanon to his blunders in Iraq and Afghanistan. It isn't just the Cabinet that is found badly wanting in this crisis, but our entire political process.

Abigail's miracle

In a week dominated by images of war and despair, one remarkable photograph captures the unquenchable power of love and the human spirit, even in the darkest of times.

Doctors didn't expect Abigail Witchalls to survive that maniacal knife attack 15 months ago. She was left paralysed, her life seemingly in ruins.

Now she is pictured on a pilgrimage to Lourdes with her husband Benoit and her young children, Joseph and baby Dominic, born seven months after the assault.

And though she still has very little movement and is confined to a wheelchair, joy in her family shines unmistakably through her disability.

Abigail may never be able to walk again. But can anyone doubt the miracle of courage and faith that inspired her to triumph over the most terrible adversity?