Not a defeat

Gordon Brown has said that the withdrawal of British troops from Basra to a base at the airport is not a defeat.

Maj Mike Shearer, British spokesman in Basra, said a bugler from Four Rifles led the advance at 0100 local time.

Obviously, if it's an advance rather than a retreat, it can't be a defeat.

Except that Charles Heyman, an expert on Britain's armed forces, said:

"You could dress that up with a bit of political rhetoric to suggest now is the time to hand over - but most of the people on the ground that I've spoken to and most of the reports that I get seem to suggest that the security situation in Basra is absolutely dire."