Divisions between some leftwing Labour MPs and the British government over the bombing of Yugoslavia deepened yesterday. Meanwhile, a Guardian/ICM opinion poll suggested a significant minority of British voters is "thinking again" about NATO air strikes following the bombing of a convoy of Kosovan civilians.
A small but vociferous group of Labour MPs, including Mr Tony Benn and Mr Tam Dalyell, is keeping up the pressure on the government to end Britain's involvement in the air strikes, despite continuing support from the majority of MPs in the Commons.
In the House of Commons on Monday night a group of 11 backbench Labour MPs voted against continuing the air strikes and fiercely criticised the government's handling of the conflict. Yesterday, during a Westminster press conference, the Labour MP Ms Alice Mahon accused NATO of playing a major role in escalating ethnic cleansing. Ms Mahon, the first British MP to visit Belgrade during the conflict, said she was allowed unfettered access to ordinary people by the authorities and visited Novi Sad, where NATO bombed bridges over the river Danube. Calling on the government to end the air strikes, she said: "I think the whole region is destabilised and the only hope is to keep pressing all sides to get the UN involved, involve the Russians and try to come up with a political solution that forms a basis for negotiation at the very best."
The criticism of the government by Mr Dalyell - who accused the Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, and the Defence Secretary, Mr George Robertson, of being more concerned with the credibility of NATO than with "doing something about these wretched refugees" - provoked an angry response from the International Development Secretary, Ms Clare Short.
While it was legitimate to voice dissent, Ms Short said she was "ashamed" that members of the Labour Party were saying "outrageous things" which amounted to a defence of Serbian aggression against ethnic Albanians.
"There were people who thought Hitler was a good thing, there were people who opposed action being taken against Hitler, and I am ashamed that there are some members of the Labour Party who are saying outrageous things defending what Serbia is doing." Mr Cook told the Ministry of Defence's daily briefing that the government had approved the release of intelligence information on more than 50 alleged crimes perpetrated against ethnic Albanians, claiming that Kosovo had been turned into a "slaughterhouse".
The Guardian/ICM poll suggests that support for the bombing is 57 per cent to 21 per cent - with a fall in the numbers opposed. However, in the days since the NATO bombing of the Kosovan convoy, the percentage of those saying they are unsure has doubled from 11 to 22 per cent.
Richard Norton-Taylor adds:
NATO yesterday signalled a far-reaching escalation of the air campaign as Apache helicopters arrived in Albania, bringing closer the involvement of the US army in a combat role.
A force of 700 US paratroopers headed for Albania in advance of a task force of 3,000 US soldiers. In a potentially significant development, NATO asked Slovakia, north of Hungary, to allow it to use the country's railway system.