 Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, has blamed Barack Obama and the United States for the decline in British public support for the war in Afghanistan. |
| British officials discussed toppling Saddam Hussein in 2001 but rejected a policy of “regime change” as illegal under international law, the Iraq war inquiry has heard. |
 The Bank of England Governor has issued his harshest rebuke yet to Gordon Brown, suggesting that the Prime Minister’s plans to cut Britain’s budget deficit do not go far enough. |
