Brown’s mind is made up on Iraq

When you hear that Gordon Brown is engaged in “fact-finding”, you can assume with complete confidence that he has made his mind up on a subject – whatever it is – and is now holding a “review” to validate his conclusion. Ask poor Derek Wanless, who was hauled in to put intellectual flesh on Gordon’s decision not to meddle with NHS funding, or Adair Turner, who had the audacity to take issue with the Chancellor over pensions. So the news that the Prime Minister in waiting is in Iraq tells us something very important: that Brown has pretty much made his mind up on what to do about British strategy when Blair is gone. The best account of his dilemma is James’s recent cover piece from the magazine: take another look for a full guide to the options the Iron Man has been weighing up.