Is Britain about to cover itself in shame? Is the new PM really ready to do such a thing?
I get the impression that Gordon Brown is trying to play both sides. As the war is extremely unpopular in Britain, he has to show that the UK has "distanced" itself from Bush to a certain extent (see British commanders' criticisms of US military and strategic policies). On the other hand, he knows which side Britain's bread is buttered on. When Britain gets into difficulty with Iran or Russia, it's not the EU that backs them up. (In their recent contretemps with Russia, the EU knifed them in the back.) The only reason the UK can stand up to Putin at all is because of US backing.
So, we'll see what Brown actually does, regardless of all the talk.