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| By Alex Stevenson Follow @alex__stevenson Let me tell you now - I had plans for Thursday evening. In fact I had plans for the whole week. I was going to spend the last few days of recess knocking off work early, going to play golf and finding the odd cocktail to sip on. This was the Stevenson itinerary for the week before the chaos returns. And then came Syria. It all came down to Barack Obama. His "red line" comments about chemical weapons in Syria simply had to be backed by actions after Bashar al-Assad finally committed an unacceptable atrocity. That meant British help, leaving David Cameron in the unenviable position of getting approval for military action. The recall came on Tuesday for Thursday, giving Cameron and William Hague just enough time to put together a motion as the drums of war sounded. It was watered down by Ed Miliband's unclear motives and then debated on Thursday, when - to everyone's surprise - David Cameron suffered a shock defeat, damaging his leadership and setting Britain on a historic retreat from the world stage. There - the week in a paragraph. Sometimes politics is ridiculous. A lot of the time it is horribly tediously dull. Lots of politics is about minor quibbling between parties that broadly agree on, say, 80% of what they're talking about (cf spending cuts). And then every so often it is about grave issues of life and death, of power and nationhood, of the scars of wars and the possibility of more war to come. This week was about intelligence, leadership, tomahawks and shock. Shock in the Commons chamber, that is, not shock and awe in Damascus. Yesterday's seven-and-a-half hour debate had its moments, for sure, but the real drama in parliament was taking place in the corridors around and about. That old cliché of MPs holding whispered conversations, clustered in groups here and there, really was in evidence yesterday evening. And late at night, having travelled back from the world to have their say in a decision which, either way, would lead to people losing their lives, MPs eventually made their decision. The result was extremely close. It might just change Britain for good. With about 15 minutes to go until the vote I bumped into a senior Labour MP and asked her what she thought of it all. "Oh, I've only just got here," she beamed cheerfully. She had been on holiday, you see, but had at least come in to vote."I'm afraid I haven't the foggiest what's going on." She was the exception rather than the rule. This was a week in which parliament stood up for itself - and won. When you're fighting the British government, it doesn't happen often. Sometimes the stakes are very high. That was the kind of politics we had this week. So much for pina coladas. TuesdayComment: Can Unesco ever recover from Irina Bokova's disastrous rule? Unesco's departing director-general has left nothing but a trail of disarray for her successor. Comment: There are no positive outcomes for military intervention in Syria Whichever way you look at it, there are no good goals for Britain in the Syrian civil war. Comment: The badger cull is an act of deceit and neglect People who should know better have given up on scientific research. WednesdaySnap verdict on Commons Syria motion Three quick thoughts on the Commons motion for intervention in Syria Comment: The anti-war left's response to Syria has been teenage and irresponsible This is not Iraq. Calling supporters of intervention 'warmongers' is totally inappropriate. Drums of war: As-it-happens The world prepares for western military intervention in Syria. Follow all the developments as they happen. ThursdayEyewitness: Shock in the Commons When Cameron returned from voting for his doomed motion on military action against Bashar al-Assad he was joking with Labour frontbenchers. It was the last time he would smile in the Commons chamber that evening. Four quick thoughts on a historic defeat An evening which may very well be studied in the history books. Syria debate verdict: A terrible moment for Ed Miliband It was a shameful afternoon in the Commons - and Ed Miliband was probably the worst. Historic humiliation for Cameron as government defeated on Syria vote The Commons was the scene of one of the greatest foreign policy upsets in living memory today, after MPs voted against the government motion on military intervention in Syria. FridayComment: A vote of tragedy and triumph for Great Britain We should celebrate the rupture of the special relationship - but not use it as an excuse to turn our back on the world. Syria intervention: Anatomy of a defeat David Cameron's personal authority took a huge blow last night - but the prime minister should only partly be blamed for the government's failure to win over the Commons. Miliband defeated his own principles last night Cameron is seriously weakened, but at least he still has his integrity. The final death of imperial Britain? Coalition despairs as shock Syria defeat sinks in Britain's MPs are contemplating the end of centuries of UK influence on the world stage, after parliament ended David Cameron's hopes of a military intervention in Syria last night. T'internetThe Political Week Online: From Cyrus to Syria From Miley Cyrus's bum cheeks to war in Syria; from David Cameron's parliamentary humiliation to Dan Hodges leaving the Labour party, the internet has been a hot mess of news, views, and utter nonsense. The week in political blogging With Syria dominating the headlines, bloggers took to their keyboards to influence the debate | CIOB video: It's all about people NASUWT comments on GCSE resultsCommenting on the GCSE results, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, said: NUT Wales comment on GCSE ResultsCommenting on this year’s GCSE results, NUT Secretary, David Evans, said: NUT comment on GCSE resultsCommenting on today’s GCSE results for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said: NASUWT comments ahead of publication of GCSE resultsThe fact that GCSEs are challenging and demanding qualifications is buried in an avalanche of politically motivated, false claims of grade inflation, dumbing-down and easy options, say the NASUWT. CIOT: Institute warns of ‘dangerous precedent’ over tax code for banksGovernment proposals for a strengthened Code of Practice on Taxation for Banks1 will set a “dangerous precedent” by giving HMRC power to determine and publicly announce non-compliance with the Code without any right of appeal, the Chartered Institute of Taxation has warned. |
