Bill to strip Blair of powers

LONDON: A move to strip the Prime Minister of his powers to declare war without the prior approval of Parliament gathered momentum on Friday with the tabling of a bill in the Commons by Clare Short, a senior Labour MP and former Cabinet Minister who resigned over the Iraq invasion.

The bill, which seeks to make it obligatory for the Prime Minister to set out a case for war before Parliament and obtain its backing before taking a decision, is aimed at preventing another Iraq-like military adventure.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been accused of not taking Parliament into confidence before giving a "secret'' undertaking to U.S. President George W. Bush in 2002 that he would support any American invasion of Iraq.

Though ultimately Mr. Blair was forced to seek a vote in the Commons, critics say that by then the political decision to go to war had already been taken.

http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/22/stories/2005102205321400.htm