It is time for us to let go of nanny, and for nanny to let go of us.”Mr Elstein described the licence fee as “the last of the regressive taxes which hit the poor much harder than the rich” and forecast that it would become increasingly indefensible as the BBC’s share of audience steadily fell in a multi-channel era.Noting that the BBC’s total share of viewing in multi-channel homes was less than 30 per cent, he said: “It is unimaginable that any other public service, ignored by its customers for three-quarters of the time in favour of private competitors, could continue to justify being funded by a compulsory tax on all households generating more than pounds 2bn a year.”Mr Elstein’s argument will cut little ice with Chris Smith, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who supports the licence fee as the bedrock of the BBC and a cornerstone of British culture. The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously yesterday to condemn Iraq and to toughen sanctions in response to Iraq’s continuing refusal to comply with UN weapons inspections. The four-point resolution, tabled by Britain, also warned of unspecified “further measures” if Iraq persisted in its defiance. There was no explicit threat to use military force, but it was not excluded either. The resolution was a rebuff to Iraq’s leader, Saddam Hussein, who had sent his Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, to the UN at the beginning of the week to plead Iraq’s cause.
Iraq made no immediate response, but looked unlikely to comply.

Last year he saved Massoud Barzani and the KDP from defeat by Mr Talabani by sending his tanks into Arbil. This year, Mr Talabani has himself established links with Baghdad.The continuation of the Kurdish civil war suits Iraq, Iran and Turkey. It makes it easy to manipulate the KDP and PUK, and it discredits the Kurdish claim to self-determination. With neither side able to emerge as the outright winner, the struggle for the Hamilton road will go on..

Turkey has again shown its willingness to intervene deep in Kurdistan. The US and Britain have shown they are increasingly marginal players in the region. Bizarrely, the PUK gets $500,000 (pounds 300,000) a month from the CIA, its other two key supporters being Iran and the Turkish Kurd guerrillas.The biggest winner is Saddam Hussein. The Harir and Safeen mountains, where the PUK was advancing, are bare of cover. Turkish artillery was effective and Mr Talabani’s men suffered heavy casualties.The only part of the Hamilton road the PUK and their Turkish Kurd allies still hold is at Haj Omran on the Iranian border. The reason is probably that the Turks do not want to provoke the Iranians by launching airstrikes so close to their border.

Mr Barzani has mobilised 10,000 Pesh Merga (Kurdish soldiers), but he will not want to humiliate the Iranians by pushing further into Mr Talabani’s territory.For the moment, the fighting is over. The Hamilton road remains mostly under the control of Mr Barzani. Mr Talabani’s men attacked Shaqlawa and Mr Barzani’s headquarters. In the Harir mountains they captured heights overlooking the road, which is the supply route for the KDP’s frontline. At the northern end, they took Haj Omran, the border crossing with Iran, where they were aided by Turkish Kurd guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).