2007 saw a record number of Labour rebels, 57 Labour MPs voted against renewing Trident
“I cannot vote for this policy. I support nearly everything this government does but I'm simply not convinced renewing the Trident submarines makes the world a safer place," - London Senator Stephen Pound speaking on the Senate floor (2007)
Labour’s divisions only grew. In March trident came up for expansion and renewal. Supported by both Brown and Howard, the new improved Trident system would cost over £2 billion, up from 1.7 billion. Opposition to the expansion was particularly fierce in Scotland, where the weapons were stored less than an hour away from Scotland’s second city Glasgow. The plan was opposed by the Liberal Democrats, Greens and nearly 60 rebel Labour MPs, however with the help of the Conservatives and UKIP the Government passed the renewal with 386 votes to 260. Again the story became a divided Labour Party rescued by a united Conservative party. After sending more troops to Afghanistan and campaigning for an uncompromising expansion of Trident, Defence Secretary Tessa Jowell became enemy number one for the anti-war left.
Brown knew he had to assert himself against Howard and regain control over his party’s left flank. Brown had been working on his “Green re-branding” and he tabled Britain’s first ever “Climate Change Act.” The Act made it the duty of Secretaries of State to ensure that the net UK carbon account for all six Kyoto greenhouse gases to be cut by 80% by 2050. The Act aimed to enable the United Kingdom to become a low-carbon economy. The act also created an independent Committee on Climate Change. The bill passed with near universal support, the only people to vote against were five Tory rebels and the 31 UKIP MPs.
However any momentum Brown could have regained through the passage of this bill was once again overtaken by events. In March 2007, fifteen Royal Navy personnel were searching a merchant vessel when the Iranian Navy detained them. In the course of events, British forces claimed that the vessel was in Iraqi waters, but the Iranians insisted that they were in Iran's waters. Defence Secretary Tessa Jowell demanded the release of the servicemen, calling the seizure “unjust and wrong.”
Jowell meets Chinese Minister Cai Wu in Buckingham
"Needless to say, I am not advocating the bombing of any part of Iran. I am arguing that in international relations, the fear that we use force in some way is likely to make an aggressor think twice. The Iranians have no need to, knowing that we and the Americans have already shot our bolt in Iraq. That is why they feel free to abuse and humiliate our servicemen." - Micheal Howard’s op-ed in the Times (2007), Howard continually alluded to the use of force throughout the crisis, he wrote in his memoirs that the crisis brought Britain “dangerously close to war.”
The British ambassador to Iran went to the Iranian foreign ministry. The Iranians said they summoned him so they could protest against "the illegal entry of British sailors into Iranian waters". Yet the British said the meeting was at their request and that they had asked both for the immediate release of the personnel. President Micheal Howard said if diplomacy fails he would take other measures to release the British sailors and marines. When asked what other measures he refused to answer if military action was a possibility.
As the diplomatic situation heated up many in the Iranian Government believed an attack was imminent. Iran mobilised a record number of troops
Tensions grew further between the two nations. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he would release the sailors as “a gift” if he received a letter of apology from the British Government and acknowledgement that the vessel had strayed into Iranian waters.Brown and Foreign Secretary Charles Clarke were eager to take him up on this offer but Howard wanted to take a stronger stance. The standoff would last for several months with relations between the country becoming increasingly strained and tense until an intervention by Pope Benedict XVI and pressure from the international community forced the Supreme Leader to release the captives in late May. Whilst this was another victory for Howard’s standoffish foreign policy right before the election, relationships with Iran were irreversibly wounded.
Polling amongst Iranian citizens showed the Commonwealth overtaking the US as the "biggest threat to Iran" for the first time since in the 21st century
“The Howard doctrine in foreign policy was defined by high-stakes, high-aggression political manoeuvring, whether this was the EU rebate or the Iranian hostage crisis, the Howard doctrine is to keep raising the stakes, wait for your opponent to blink. Whilst in the short term it could be effective at getting Howard what we wanted, it permanently weakened Britain's international relations. The high stake nature meant Howard only had to blink once for the whole doctrine to come crashing down.” - John Kampfner, Micheal Howard and British Foreign Policy (2018)
The incident threw a further spanner in the works for Labour as Foreign Secretary Charles Clarke was forced to resign. Brown called for Reid to take back his old job as Foreign Secretary but this meant that Labour would need to find a new Senate leader. Three candidates appeared: International Development Secretary Charlie Falconer, North West Premier Jack Straw and Justice Secretary Geoff Hoon. Noticeably none of the candidates were senators, Senator John Hutton was seen as Reid’s natural successor but he recognised the election was nearly unwinnable and would be a poisoned chalice. The Senate Leadership election was seen as a battle between the two factions of the Labour Party. With Charlie Falconer supported by those loyal to Blair and Straw the candidate of the Brownites. Hoon found himself trapped between the two and was quickly eliminated. Falconer based his campaign around a “fresh start” and tried to distance himself from Brown, despite serving in his cabinet. Straw focused his campaign around his experience, a former cabinet secretary and two term Premier. The campaign was intense and close but eventually Straw won out.
The Conservatives also had to put forward a Senate candidate, established senators Francis Maude and Oliver Heald were considered frontrunners for the post but the Conservative leadership passed over them. The Conservative Party board was split between the modernisers who wanted to nominate moderate rising star MP George Osborne and the traditionalists who wanted Senator Chirs Grayling. However there was a dark horse compromise candidate who could lead the party to victory, after a nearly ten hour meeting of the inner circle the Conservatives announced they would be nominating David Davis. Again.
Comedy show "Have I Got News For You" had a very successful year some episodes getting ratings of several million. Some argued this was evidence of the increasing cynicism of the British public.
“
And our new Chancellor is David Davis, Foreign Sec? David Davis. We’re hearing that Parliament has all been sacked and replaced by 650 identical David Davis clones” - Have I Got News For You Host Jeremy Clarkson (2007), the choice of Davis was widely mocked and many saw it as a clear example of Davis being more powerful in the Conservative party than Howard was.
The Liberal Democrats had no lack of candidates, four men put their names forward: Yorkshire MP Nick Clegg, South West First Minister Nick Harvey, East Anglia Senator Norman Lamb and Scotland Senator Micheal Moore. Clegg and Lamb were the frontrunners, with Clegg seen as the Lawsite and Lamb seen as a wildcard, popular with the membership a strong campaigner for Liberal Democrat hobby horses such as legalised marijuana. The battle was bitter and whilst most Senators backed Clegg or Moore, Lamb was the most popular with the membership and was elected as leader, it was now up to Lamb to lead the divided party in the 2007 election.
Using a least one case study, how effective was the "Howard Doctrine" in protecting long-term British interests? (30 Marks) - A Level History Exam (2019)