The point of departure - Robin Cook

As the Iraqi conflict led to his resignation from the Cabinet, Robin Cook, former Foreign Secretary, will naturally focus on the build-up to and the consequences of the war. He will also explore how the excitement at Blair's victory in l997 - and the very real advances in his first parliament - have given way to a decline in public confidence, deepening challenges to parliamentary democracy and an increasing loss of momentum in his second parliament. Based on first-hand experiences of the Cabinet and Commons since the last election, Cook will explain how decisions came to be taken and explore the consequences of those decisions. The struggle for greater democracy, the increased conservatism of the present government and the march to war provides a dramatic and compelling story.