ANY QUOTES USED MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO MURNAGHAN, SKY NEWS

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Well there is stalemate today in international attempts to try to stop President Assad from killing his own people after Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution calling for him to step aside. This morning the Tunisian Prime Minister has called on Arab countries to expel their Syrian ambassadors. Well joining me in a moment is the Shadow Foreign Secretary, Douglas Alexander, but also watching the discussions are our Twitter commentators, they are Paul Waugh, editor of Politics Home, the Sunday Mirror’s political editor Vincent Moss and Kevin Schofield, political correspondent of the Sun, they provide their reactions via Twitter which you also can read those on the side panels and you can follow on the website, skynews.com/politics and you can join in on Twitter using the hashtag #murnaghan. Well let’s say a very good morning to Douglas Alexander and Mr Alexander, do you think there was anything more that the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, could have done at the United Nations to get Russia and China on side for that UN resolution?

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: Well good morning, Dermot. I obviously wasn’t at the United Nations so I can’t speak for the private conversations that took place but I have no public criticism or private criticism of William Hague’s action. I do think however though, the failure to reach agreement in the Security Council is a stain on the conscience of the world. It is deeply regrettable that Russia and China chose to veto what would otherwise have been an international consensus around that Arab League peace plan and that’s why I hope the government will redouble its efforts to try and build that consensus. I will be urging William Hague to come to the House of Commons tomorrow, to explain the position and to set out what he judges to be the next steps in trying to secure the consensus around the Arab League peace plan.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Okay there’s that but there are other things that can be done. There’s things within our own and other’s control, aren’t there, and this idea of ending diplomatic relations with a murderous regime, the Arab League in the form of the Tunisian Prime Minister saying that Syrian ambassadors should be expelled from their countries, shouldn’t we do the same?

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: Well let’s take this a step at a time. Firstly the Arab League has been leading on this crisis and I think there is a case for European Ministers now in the days ahead to sit down with their Arab counterparts to communicate the strength of international feeling and to decide a way forward. Secondly, we should be looking at extending the asset ban and travel ban, along with economic sanctions, which are already having an effect in Syria. Now on the specific issue of diplomatic relations, I think this would be best done in a co-ordinated fashion and in that sense I note with interest the steps that have been taken by the new Tunisian administration but I would want to hear directly from the Arab League, who are meeting in coming days, but I certainly wouldn’t rule out that possibility. Of course it’s not something you do lightly, you want to be able to both understand what is happening within Syria but also communicate directly to the Assad regime. But let’s be very clear, the Assad regime’s time is up. There is no question that it will retain the legitimacy internally or externally that would allow it to continue. The urgency therefore is to see a cessation to the violence and once possible route forward would be to further isolate the Assad regime in relation to diplomatic relations.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: A possible route forward but it has to be concerted, if the Arab League go for it, then should for instance EU foreign ministers?

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: Well exactly, I think that the Arab League needs to reach a co-ordinated view on this because that will be in the first instance to whom Assad will look, his regional partners. I would pay tribute to the work that the Turks have done as a significant regional power and I think it’s important that we see further action from the Arab League in the coming days but as I said, I would also call for a join Arab League/European Union summit in the coming days to make sure that the actions of the European Union are fully co-ordinated with those of Arab League partners.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Is this enough? Whatever happens diplomatically, given the way that President Assad for nearly a year now has been thumbing his nose at the international community and he seems to have intensified the crackdown, given reports of the bloodshed that is now taking place, doesn’t something more have to be done? He would ignore a UN resolution.

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: Well it is already clear that the Assad regime has no future. The tragedy is that notwithstanding that fact, the slaughter continues and that’s why you’re right, there is deep frustration felt by all of us that the Assad regime has not recognised its time is up. That’s why I do think there needs to be sustained and indeed increased diplomatic pressure in the days ahead, not simply when Foreign Minister Lavrov visits Damascus on Tuesday but also when those European Ministers and those Arab Ministers meet again in the coming days. But be clear, what we need is an immediate cessation to the violence. It is a different situation from Libya, not because there is not horrendous slaughter – there very clearly is – but the Arab League, the Arab partners who are in the lead in this crisis are not seeking international military intervention, nor indeed are many Syrians. That is why we need to put our shoulders to the wheel in support of the efforts that are being made by the Arab League to deepen the isolation and to intensify the pressure. It is already having an effect but we need to accelerate that timetable.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Can I just ask you a question, Mr Alexander, that I put to the Foreign Secretary an hour ago about the South Atlantic and the Falklands? As you know, as you are well aware, the Argentinians believe that the United Kingdom is being a little, to say the least, provocative about the 30th anniversary of the Falklands campaign. Do you think the Foreign Office should tone it down a bit?

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: No, I actually listened to the interview that the Foreign Secretary gave and I think he’s right to recognise the importance of commemoration of what happened in 1982 in the coming days and weeks. Secondly, it is not appropriate for either the government or the opposition frankly to be discussing operational decisions in relation to naval war ships but I do think there is an important responsibility on everybody to continue in a clear, calm and considered manner, to make clear the responsibility lies with the Falkland Islanders themselves to determine their own future. The position of this government is no different from that of the previous government and indeed governments since 1982 in that regard.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Okay, Mr Alexander, thank you very much indeed. Douglas Alexander, the Shadow Foreign Secretary there.

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: Thank you.