On Newsnight the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, made it abundantly clear that the Government's aim now in Iraq, was to deliver a stable and democratic government to that country. Leaving aside the "5-10 years" he thought that would take, given the situation we find ourselves in, it could be portrayed as a laudable, if unlikely ambition. However, given that Saddam Hussein was only engaged in terrorising the people of Iraq, it doesn't do anything for the Blair/Bush War Against Terrorism.... but converesly seems to have at least fueled, and maybe encouraged the spread of international terrorism. Now Charles Clarke's latest measures aimed to deal with 'terrorists' or those who advocate it, are being interpreted as an incitement to terrorism. The Home Secretary says, He could not think of any situation in the world where "violence would be justified to bring about change". Milne writes...."as the mayor of London pointed out yesterday, support for Nelson Mandela, the wartime resistance and any number of anti-colonial liberation movements would all have been crimes under this bill."

The BBC website invites you to send in your views on Thatcher. I suspect the webmaster's censorship pencil is going to be working overtime today.