Breathtaking

Labour MP Andrew Mackinlay, who was very cross about Jack Straw's veto of the release of pre-Iraq war cabinet minutes, called the decision "breathtaking".

Is there a better word for the naivety of this news story from the BBC, about foreign secretary David Miliband's visit to Iraq?

Mr Miliband is expected to see evidence of improved stability in the region when he meets members of the newly-elected provincial council.

Interestingly, the story on the FCO website does not make the claim about evidence of improved stability. Where did the BBC get it from?

Bananas out for Miliband

The Telegraph's Andrew Pierce has really stuck the knife - or is it the banana? - into David Miliband this morning. Largely based on the foreign secretary's trip to India, he says Miliband is "an embarrassment strutting the world stage".

I've never been particularly impressed by Miliband and thought he looked badly out of his depth in last year's Iraq Inquiry debate. At least on Labour MP told me a while back that he thought the Blairite hope seriously overrated.

Miliband did look very childish and a bit giddy through a lot of the last summer, leading up to the Labour Party conference. The incident where he was photographed with a banana would have been quickly forgotten had it not crystalised this view in a lot of minds and given people like Pierce a stick to beat him with.

Having said all that, Miliband did recommend my Iraqdossier website in a recent letter to an M.P.