So much for British reserve. In a private meeting with Labour MPs, the Deputy PM, John Prescott, who's minding the store while Tony's away on holiday, said what he really thinks: the Bush administration has been "crap" when it comes to peace in the Middle East.
According to one MP who was there:
"He was talking in the context of the 'road map' in the Middle East. He said he only gave support to the war on Iraq because they were promised the road map. But he said the Bush administration had been crap on that. We all laughed and he said to an official, 'Don't minute that'." Mr Cohen added: "We also had a laugh when he said old Bush is just a cowboy with his Stetson on. But then he said, 'I can hardly talk about that can I?'
Of course you can, John. Don't be shy.
This is exactly what we need, more world leaders telling the truth about the Bush administration.
Oh, look, they are: China's ambassador to the UN in Geneva told the U.S. to "shut up" their nagging about China's increased spending on their military. They played his remarks on the radio today; he was quite worked up. So much for Chinese reserve.