Claire Short, has come third in the private member's bill ballot, with her requirement that a parliamentary vote is required for all future deployments of British troops for wars, rapid reaction forces or peacekeeping exercises. Understandably, Blair prefers the flexibility and grandstanding of the royal prerogative to the need for providing accoutable reasons for his wars.
Nevertheless, this bill has attracted the support of prominent politicians including Robin Cook and William Hague. The number of potential supporters is listed as 167, following the early day motion, and includes support from all political parties, with some Cabinet sympathy, in the guise of Straw and Brown. The bill has some implications for current deployments as well:
More surprisingly, a retrospective clause - inserted to allow the prime minister to go to war in an emergency and then put a report before parliament to justify the action - would mean that MPs would have a chance to vote on whether troops should remain in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The report says: "Under this clause retrospective approval would have to be granted for the participation of British forces in armed conflicts that begun prior to the legislation coming into force."
It also warns of a potential loophole in the legislation. If Tony Blair lost a vote on keeping troops in Iraq, in theory he would have to withdraw them within 30 days. But the bill allows the prime minister to keep troops in a foreign country for an unspecified period as a precursor to withdrawal.
More useful is the fact that, if this bill is passed, British Prime Ministers could not abuse the executive power to place our troops under European command without parliamentary approval, gritting the smooth path towards a common foreign and security policy.