What next for your political career? Suzanne Wilkes, Bristol
I really don’t know.  It is probably two years until the next election.  I will until then look after my constituents and take up invitations to write and talk about the problems we now face.  I will also look out for opportunities to do something useful in the future.
You've had a rich career in public life - what would you say is the achievement you're most proud of? Ben Blackwell, London
I am most proud of my 23 years’ service for people in Ladywood and of the role I played in the establishment of the Department for International Development.
Are there any approaches which you could suggest that could reinvigorate the grass root Labour supporters? Graeme, Glasgow
I think we need to change the electoral system in local and national elections so that representation is proportional to our vote.  This would force the party to see that New Labour has badly undermined Labour’s vote and reputation.  I hope that what is left of Labour’s grass roots would then turn back to the values of Social Democracy.  .
On Question Time you came across as an opponent of the Iraq war. But would it not have been better to take a principled stand at a time when it mattered, i.e. before or during the parliamentary debate on going to war, and to have resigned? John Krol, London
I have set out in my book “An Honourable Deception? New Labour, Iraq and the Misuse of Power” why I took the action I did.  In brief, having made clear my intention to resign and vote against the Government, Tony Blair negotiated with me to try to prevent me from doing so.  I said that he should have proceeded only through the UN, insisted on the establishment of a Palestinian State alongside Israel and promise a UN led reconstruction of Iraq if war was unstoppable.  He then got President Bush to announce his support for the Road Map (which was supposed to lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state by the end of 2005). 
He also promised a UN lead on Iraqi reconstruction.  Given that the war was unstoppable, I reluctantly stayed in the Government.  Within weeks it became clear that Blair did not intend to fulfil these promises and I resigned from the Government.  It would undoubtedly have been more popular to resign before the vote, but this would not have stopped the war (the vote was  396 to 217 in support of the Government). But if Blair had kept his promises to me the people of Iraq and the Middle East would have been much better off.  At that stage I still thought that the word of the President of the US and the Prime Minister of Britain meant something.

Who do you think should be the next deputy leader of the Labour Party and why? Natasa, Slough

I don’t think any of the contenders will make much difference, but Jon Cruddas is standing on a commitment to rebuild the democratic structures of the Labour Party.  If that was done, a decent Labour Party might begin to rebuild.

What do you think the UK government should do in Iraq now?  Donald Amstad

I think the UK should say to the US that we support the conclusions of the US Congress’s Iraq Study Group.  This said that the US should make clear it wanted no permanent bases in Iraq and wished to withdraw, ask Syria and Iran to help stabilise Iraq, help stabilise the Middle East by insisting on the establishment of a Palestinian state on 1967 boundaries and work with the international community to help Iraq establish a national army and real government of national unity.  Given President Bush’s refusal to implement this policy, the UK should withdraw and work with Europe and the rest of the international community for such a settlement.