Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Our activists are worried about the war, says Clarke

Andrew Grice
Thursday 27 September 2001 00:00 BST
Comments

Charles Clarke, the chairman of the Labour Party, admitted yesterday that party activists and the general public are "apprehensive" and "worried" about the looming military response to the terrorist attacks in the United States.

In an interview with The Independent, Mr Clarke sought to allay the concern in the party ahead of its annual conference in Brighton next week. He said it was the Government's policy that the military response would be targeted on those responsible for the terrorist acts and that it wanted to keep "collateral damage" to a minimum. He also suggested that Tony Blair had helped to restrain the US from launching an immediate retaliation.

In a frank summary of the party's mood, Mr Clarke said: "Generally, the attitude is positive support for a strong global response to terrorism and this threat. Secondly, the very strong desire for it to be targeted and focused, and really focus on the people who are responsible for these terrible acts.

"Thirdly, there is a sense of apprehension about how events will go, and people won't lose that sense of apprehension until the actions move forward."

He added: "All of these emotions are entirely understandable ... I don't think it is just in our own party. I think across the country people are waiting to see how things emerge and they are worried about what it will be and how it will be."

Mr Clarke, a close ally of the Prime Minister, moved to cool the controversy over remarks by Clare Short, the Secretary of State for International Development, who is widely seen as the party's conscience in the Cabinet. Mr Clarke said: "What Clare was talking about was the need ... for the action to be very focused and targeted on the people responsible for these acts. That is what the Government has been seeking to ensure.

"On the other hand, it is very clear indeed that those people who are sheltering those who have taken this action can't continue in that position. That has to be drawn out; we cannot allow that to continue."

Asked if he believed Labour Party members would accept casualties, he replied: "Yes, I do. The fact is that all these actions are very, very difficult, but I think people are very, very clear: the people who committed this terrible act should not be allowed to get away with it.

"Targeting them in a way that will succeed in bringing them to justice is a very difficult process. But people know that if you don't stand up to this sort of thing now, you will end up with up with a much worse situation in the future."

He went on: "Of course, people are very keen to see minimal collateral damage, that is why the focusing is important. But people also think it is necessary to take on the people committing these acts."

The Labour chairman said there was a "very strong recognition" inside the party that Mr Blair had been seeking a global response to the attacks. "Unquestionably, people are glad that, 14 days after the event, the responses have been considered. I don't think they [party members] would necessarily say the Prime Minister has achieved that because they are not familiar with the details of the discussions, but I think they know that is the direction in which the Prime Minister has been working," he said.

Mr Clarke said he respected "the strong and honourable tradition of pacifism within the Labour Party" but insisted it was now a very minority view.

He promised there would be a full-scale debate on the international crisis at the conference, and that party managers would not use the curtailed event – which has been cut from four and a half to three days – to stifle debate on tricky issues. "That would be a terrible mistake."

"The nature of the conference will change quite a bit," he said. "For example, you cannot look at crime and security issues mainly in a domestic context in this climate. You cannot discuss the economy without the knock-on effect of the events of 11 September. The whole international debate will be fundamentally different to what it would have been."

Mr Clarke said there would be a debate on the Government's plans to give private firms a greater role in running public services, an issue which threatened to dominate the conference before the terrorist attacks happened. He believed people would now want to avoid "sharp controversy". It appears that Labour bosses are trying to avoid a vote on the issue.

Similarly, Labour's plans to attack Iain Duncan Smith and his right-dominated Shadow Cabinet will be put on hold. "Everybody recognises that an atmosphere of partisan politicking is not appropriate," said Mr Clarke. "Normally, you might expect some celebration at our historic election victory and some entertaining political point-scoring at the new Conservative leader and Shadow Cabinet. But I doubt that any of that will be around."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in