What is interesting to me is that the Prime Minister must be aware of this on some level. The idea of the Labour Party helping the Republicans is truly bizarre to me, but it's a notion that fills me with mirth. ;)
Prime Minister Blair, unlike his Backbench or his allies in the TUC, understands that America will judge its "friends" by how they back us up in this mortal struggle with a remorseless foe.
You will notice that we are virtually stripping Saudi Arabia of its American presence. The Saudis didn't stand up for what is right in the wake of the attacks of last year; rather, they tried to play a double game: sending us soothing words while buying off the PA and Al Qaeda. Bush will use Saudi Arabia as an example to other Arabs: within a year, the United States will sever any security guarantees with the Kingdom (which will be an academic exercise anyway, as we won't need it or them).
Blair has figured out what Bundeskanzler Schroeder has failed to understand: this war is a watershed in how Americans will view the rest of the world. It is more likely that Americans will withdraw into an armed neutrality (something that comes natural to us) than engage in overseas empire building. Blair wants us to know now that a relationship with the United Kingdom has value to us.
The United Kingdom and the United States together form an alliance of unmatched power, reach, and diplomatic acumen. Add Russia and Japan to the mix, and you have a recipe for an entente which can forestall Chinese adventurism or an Islamic fascist enterprise for the foreseeable future.
The European Union cannot offer Blair anything more than membership in a Frankfurt banker's racket. Blair understands that to help this strange Republican is to help Britain in the long run. Otherwise, he risks placing Britain in the second rank of European states, behind the two main conspirators: Germany and France.
If Blair maintains his policy, then the Eurotrash powers have to come to him. The drawback is that he still appears intent on giving up the Pound, but perhaps there is still time to abandon that enterprise as well.
If his Backbench could understand that, they might cut him more slack. But people like Glenda Jackson are prisoners of their own ideology.
Be Seeing You,
Chris