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Michael Yon tells a different story. As I read him, the British have long had a plan to turn Basra over to the Iraqi police and military. The Brits think the Iraqis are ready. British forces will redeploy to Afghanistan. The enemy, foreign and domestic, want to paint this as a rout of the British, but it isn’t.

October 22, 2007, by Michael Yon
Resistance is futile: You will be (mis)informed.
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/resistance-is-futile.htm

Maysan
A Small Battle in the Media War
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/maysan.htm

From Resistance is futile: You will be (mis)informed.
That month-long experience was marked by “Jaish al Mahdi” (Mahdi Army or JAM)-related attacks on British soldiers. These attacks were further fueled by enemy media operations which distorted the long-planned draw-down of British troops in Basra city, something I noted in the dispatch “Maysan”:

As the British increase their forces in Afghanistan, they are drawing down in Iraq. Although the drawdown in Iraq is based on pragmatism, the enemy apparently is attempting to create the perception of a military rout. So while the British reduce their forces in southern Iraq, they are coming under heavier fire and the enemy makes claims of driving “the occupiers” out.