In the Loop

Description

During a radio interview on BBC Radio 4's PM programme, Minister for International Development Simon Foster accidentally states that a war in the Middle East is "unforeseeable". He is told off for not remaining neutral by the Prime Minister's enforcer Malcolm Tucker. But when later caught by news cameras Foster makes a further gaffe by saying there may be a need to "climb the mountain of conflict". The two contradictory statements coincide with a visit by senior U.S. State Department officials, who jump on Foster's two quotations and begin to use him, and his hapless new aide Toby, as pawns in an international political game.