When Keith Simpson asked whether the Chiefs of Staff had expressed reservations about the air campaign in March, he answered "yes". He didn't use the word, naturally, but it was the only plausible translation of the long, meandering route he took to avoid the word "no". That and the regretful tone in which he noted that Mr Simpson was trying to "drive a wedge between Service chiefs and the Government" (an understandable grunt of outrage here from Tories, who take the view that a sentence ending with a question mark should not be treated as indistinguishable from a Serbian missile).When regretful accusations of political pettiness or outright treason won't do the trick, then simple abuse is always available. After the admittedly excitable Michael Fabricant had asked about the implications of Kosovo for Army manning levels, Mr Robertson got catty: "I hear the grinding sound of a great military mind at work," he replied. Labour MPs laughed at this, not, I think, because it was witty, but because Mr Robertson had finally delivered some ordnance back at the other side. Not the right target, of course, but then you can't have everything..

THE TORIES came close to breaking the bi-partisan approach towards Nato's military action against Yugoslavia yesterday when they condemned the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade as an "act of gross incompetence". Michael Howard, the shadow Foreign Secretary, was jeered by Labour MPs during an emergency statement on Kosovo, when he said the impression was being gained that "the military action is being made up as we go along and has not properly been thought through". But while Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, expressed "deep regret" over the "tragic error", he insisted during angry exchanges that there could be "no greater clarity than Nato's objectives". Mr Cook said: "What is required is some clarity of the support of the Opposition. I wish the Opposition would not keep shifting the basis for which they [express] their support."Later, the controversy deepened when a senior Labour Party source said: "This is typical opportunism from Michael Howard. Opposing the war did not do Alex Salmond any good - it is not going to do the Tories any good either."During his most critical speech on the bombing so far, Mr Howard said: "The bombing of the Chinese embassy was not only a tragic mistake, but also an act of gross incompetence... almost any street map of Belgrade clearly shows the location of the embassy. Seven weeks into the military action, we appear to be no nearer to achieving the primary objective - to avoid a humanitarian disaster."Mr Cook stressed that while Nato would welcome a settlement through a diplomatic solution, it would not accept it at any price.

Pledging Nato's resolve to increase the air campaign, he warned that if Milosevic "felt any reduction in our air campaign, or sensed any weakening of our resolve, there would be no prospect of him agreeing to our demands".Mr Cook added: "I cannot understand those who focus on the tens who have been casualties of Nato's military campaign to the exclusion of the tens of thousands who have been butchered by Milosevic in Kosovo."Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, said the "unacceptable error" of bombing the embassy had handed the Milosevic regime an "unparalleled propaganda opportunity".In reply, Mr Cook said it was impossible to "wage a military campaign of this intensity without mistakes".Martin Bell, the independent MP for Tatton, said: "Are you aware of the dismay felt in the country that the greatest military alliance on earth seems to be like the gang that can't shoot straight?"Tony Benn, the Labour MP for Chesterfield, described the war as "bloody and indiscriminate" and accused the Government of losing touch with reality. The US Congress would not support the use of ground troops and the Government was misleading the refugees into believing that the current action would allow them to return home, he said.. THE GOVERNMENT faced an embarrassing backbench revolt yesterday over plans to cut state benefits for the disabled when 20 MPs put down amendments to its flagship welfare reform legislation. Lynne Jones, MP for Birmingham Selly Oak, said the Welfare Reform Bill, which would introduce means-testing and cut entitlements to incapacity benefits, would affect up to 170,000 people. She warned the proposals would act as a disincentive to training for work and discourage people from saving for their retirement. Under the planned legislation, the entitlement to disability allowance would be changed so that instead of a person having to make national insurance contributions for a total of one year in the course of a lifetime, he or she had to make one year's contributions in the past two years.The MPs are also putting down an amendment to block plans to start means- testing the benefit, which would deny payments to people who had saved for their own pension.While the rebellion includes a number of prominent left wingers, it is also supported by David Hinchliffe, chairman of the Health Select Committee and Gwyneth Dunwoody, chairman of the Transport Select Committee.The Government previously suffered a setback over its approach to welfare reform when 47 backbenchers voted against cuts to single parents' benefits in December 1997.

Ms Jones said she hoped the Government had learnt its lesson: "We hope they will see it's better to climb down straight away."Alistair Darling, the Secretary of State for Social Security, will meet the rebels on Thursday ahead of a Commons vote next Monday amid accusations that he is seeking to rush through the Bill.. MINISTERS CAME under fierce attack yesterday from Ulster Unionists who said that legislation aimed at helping to find the graves of Northern Ireland's "disappeared" amounted to an amnesty. Peter Robinson, the Democratic Unionist MP for Belfast East, said the measure, under which details given to trace the remains of people abducted and killed by paramilitaries cannot be used in criminal proceedings, would establish a "dangerous principle". The information will be passed to an international commission. But Adam Ingram, opening the second reading debate on the Northern Ireland (Location of Victims' Remains) Bill, insisted it would not amount to granting immunity from prosecution for the killers.