Crucial warnings Blair kept from MPs

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Key points
• Leaked document shows information given to Blair on eve of war
• Lord Goldsmith's advice very different from case presented to MPs
• Damage likely to further rouse anti-war vote


TONY Blair suffered a devastating blow last night as it emerged that the legal advice he had been given before the Iraq war bore little resemblance to the summary he presented to parliament. Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general, warned Mr Blair he could not bypass the United Nations simply because France threatened to veto a move to war. A court "might well conclude" that war was illegal. Yet there was no hint of this in the summary of the advice shown to the Cabinet and published - exposing Mr Blair to the charge that he misled both parliament and the public. The revelation could alter the course of the election campaign - marshalling an anti-Blair vote and bolstering his opponents’ case that he lied on the eve of war.

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=452952005


Blair accused of 'gross deception' as Goldsmith's advice is published

Last night, Mr Blair - unaware that the report was about to be leaked - was caught out still claiming on Sky News that the advice from the Attorney General "didn't change".Professor Peter Hennessy, an expert on constitutional affairs, said: "The whole thing reeks." Dominic Grieve, the Tory legal affairs spokesman said: "There has been a gross deception."Families of some of the British soldiers killed in Iraq said they were preparing a legal case against the Prime Minister, based on the leaked document.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=633717

[TahitiNut]

1. This goes a long way to explain why Blair & Bush *both* stonewalled on WMD

I'm thinking that even if the US doesn't submit to the ICC, the UK might. If the UK submits to the ICC and there's a finding that the invasion was a violation of interntaional law and human rights, it's as godd as a finding agasint the US.

[frictionlessO]

2. Yep yep yep! Then we can really start using the "Coalition" against them.

The Coalition of The Willing... to lie.

"Tell that to Tony Blair"
"Well I would except hes in jail!"

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3. Families prepare Iraq war indictment

Rose Gentle, whose son, Gordon, was killed in Basra last year, said she and other families were preparing an indictment against Tony Blair.

The case will be supported by the Stop The War Coalition and Military Families Against The War. The two anti-war groups said the plan was to present a legal case to the high court in London tomorrow.

Mrs Gentle, who is standing against the defence minister, Adam Ingram, in the East Kilbride constituency, said: "We now know that the war was based on a lie. There was no legal advice in favour of the war. My son died for that lie and I am determined to see justice done." A spokesman for the Stop The War Coalition said: "There were no weapons of mass destruction, no 45-minute warning, and now we know, there was no proper legal advice for war.

"Tony Blair has to take responsibility for what happened in Iraq and for the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqis and 88 British servicemen."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1471721,00.html