Lynne Featherstone

Into Parliament so that we can vote for Clare Short's Private Members Bill to require Parliament to approve sending our armed forces into conflicts in future. We need 100 affirmative votes for it to get beyond this stage. When Clare moves to call for the vote - sadly we fall short at 91. The Lib Dem benches are the fullest, with the Tories barely visible and even the Labour rebels seem to have found going home on Thursday preferable to being in Parliament on a Friday. Great disappointment.

I think it important that Parliament should debate and decide such important issues for our country. Of course - the legislation would have to work not to impede going to war if time was of the imperative - but we might not get in such a mess if such debate was mandatory.

Moreover, I am still shocked to find that those running the country (who until I knew them I still had the illusion that they were my elders and betters and actually knew what they were doing) hadn't thought beyond the war. Unimaginable to me that we could go to war without an exit strategy – and all the different scenarios worked through. Naive old me!