Never mind that some of the tabloids now demanding that our boys should get out were once baying that "something must be done" because a Bosnian baby had aroused the vital element of Human Interest. Britain could not ignore the dangers to Europe posed by war in the Balkans.The dangers to the British government are clear enough. The hallowed memorials in every town and village of these islands called the muster of those who died in two wars set off by the Sarajevo assassination, said the Foreign Secretary. In Moscow, they refused to abandon the Serbs, but declined to break with the Western allies.

All three sides placed their hopes in an unctuous diplomacy intended to woo President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia into a new role as the grand arbiter of peace. But in the past week General Ratko Mladic and the Bosnian Serbs exploded these pretensions with the same sudden and violent force as Gavrilo Princip's shots at Sarajevo in the hot early summer of 1914.The crisis caused by Serb assaults on Sarajevo, Nato reprisal bombing and the inevitable hostage-taking has overwhelmed the cautious, consensus- seeking plod towards a settlement. Britain finds itself forced to take sudden, difficult choices, as unity fractures and nations suddenly rediscover the traditional pursuit of their own interests.So why are we in Bosnia? Douglas Hurd, the great sustainer of rational equilibrium, seemed suddenly to revert to basic instincts yesterday when asked to explain, in the face of a chorus of public alarm, why British soldiers should stay put. The American allies talked tough, but worried about pushing the Russians too far. The British and the French talked progress, but shrank from offending their American allies. It was the era of the false consensus, a long period when Europe, the United States and Russia pretended to agree about Bosnia but succeeded only in anaesthetising their conflict through inaction. Under these rules, the United Nations could not go forward nor could it go back.

Less than a month has elapsed since the House of Commons last debated Britain's role in Bosnia, but during that period an era has ended. Married in 1962, they have four children.Mr Mills made headlines in 1987 when he was sacked as deputy director of the London Docklands Development Corporation.In 1986 one of his companies was fined, after trading standards officers discovered jewellery it was selling as gold-plated was actually brass.Barbara Mills became Director of Public Prosecutions in April 1992, following the resignation of Sir Allan Green.Soon afterwards, Mrs Mills, who had headed the Serious Fraud Office, came under fire over the failure to prosecute any of the West Midlands crime squad, and for not taking up an offer by Lord Taylor, the Lord Chief Justice, to give evidence in the Judith Ward trial.. A knife and Mr Mills' wallet have been recovered.Barbara and John Mills met at Oxford University. A witness alerted police that a middle-aged man had been assaulted by a gang of youths."Mr Mills was taken to the Royal Free Hospital in north London where he underwent surgery for his wounds He is said to be conscious and in a stable condition. His wife, who was described as "shocked and worried", was at his bedside.Eight youths were last night being questioned at various police stations across north London. Mr Mills managed to stagger to his house and his wife called an ambulance.