UK Government Backs Down on Ban Threats

According to CricInfo, the UK government has decided to leave any decision on Zimbabwe's scheduled tour of England in 2009 to the ECB. Speaking in a House of Lords debate on the issue, Lord Malloch-Brown stated:

"The Foreign Secretary and others in this government have made it clear that we do not encourage the ECB to allow Zimbabwe to tour England in 2009 or England to tour Zimbabwe in 2012 if the situation in the country is as it is now. We continue to speak to the ECB about these issues but it remains a decision for the board. We have decided that the government can make their position clear, but that it is not for us to intervene directly in this matter."

Without government intervention, the ECB would face a hefty ICC ban if the tour were to be cancelled - meaning that it now seems likely to go ahead as planned.
CricInfo - Government to leave Zimbabwe decision to the ECB