Blair in OWN words - The Legality of the Iraq War - Statement

Iraq Inquiry: A statement by Tony Blair on the legality of the Iraq War and his view that the opinion of the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith was to us his own words, “ provisional ” due to the fact that Tony Blair had kept him at arms length. Also interesting fact is the in the statement is the fact that Tony Blair meet with the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith on the 11 March 2003 but cant recall the content of the conversation, another Ah Hoc meeting on the sofa, the conspiracy theorists will have a field day with that meeting. One has to wonder will the Iraq Inquiry ask Lord Goldsmith if he recalls what the content of the conversation was between himself and the then Prime Minister. Statement Pages 9/10/11 ( pdf )

Blair Today - Iraq Inquiry

Telegraph: Reports on the second Iraq Inquiry appearance by former Labour PM Tony Blair. In this second appearance at the Iraq Inquiry Mr Blair stated in writing that since the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith had stated a counter opinion to the legality of the Iraq War it was seen as a draft opinion and that the Attorney General would revise his opinion after talking to the US. The second grilling of Tony Blair was interesting, he looked more peeved at being there, also for Tony Blair he was humble, lets recall before politics Mr Blair had a legal career thus he knows how to deal with difficult questions, the issues from watching the Inquiry on TV that caused Mr Blair some discomfort was the fact that the UK Cabinet was not giving all the papers when it came to Iraq, Mr Blair’s argument that the Cabinet read the press was a bit hollow, the UK Cabinet should get all the documents. Also the fact that the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith was kept at arms length while Blair was pushing through another UN Resolution does ask the question what was Lord Goldsmith being paid to do as Attorney General, can the tax payer gets it money back for the months that Lord Goldsmith was kept off the Blair reservation. On the whole if you grade the performance you would have to give Tony Blair a B+ for his defence of the Iraq War, as to if he lied to the House of Commons on the legal justitfcation for the War that has to be left to the opinion of the general public and future historians, as UK Armed Forces Personnel can never die in an illegal war, a VERY iffy War but it cant ever be illegal, just lets leave it with the fact that Blair has Iraq, while Eden had Suez.

The new Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer - Ed Balls

The resingation of Alan Johnson as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer is a great wound for Labour Leader Ed Miliband, he has now been forced to appoint a political opponent in the shape of Ed Balls. Lets clear be clear Mr Balls is clever and a great political operator, but he is not NEW LABOUR, as Tony Blair found to his cost, he does not think the UK has to cut its deficit in half over a four year period, he comes from the Gordon Brown school of economics, bankrupt the nation and complain when the others have to clean up the mess. The sight of Ed Balls as Shadow Chancellor will be a delight to the Coalition Government, Balls was the right hand man for Brown while he was Chancellor and PM. Thus the present structural deficit, beyond the bank bailout is the fault of Brown/Balls, this should be the argument of the Coalition Government, the argument should be framed that Labour under Ed Miliband has not accepted its responsibility while in office for the near bankruptcy of the UK, its all wind and no bite. Also Ed Miliband must worry that Balls will knife him in the back in the future, the next election will be in 2015, thus in that time there will be lows for Labour, Miliband must worry that when he is low in the polls or Labour is not doing as well as expected he will face a Palace Coup from Balls and his wife. The Coalition just go some more breathing space from this resignation of Alan Johnson, Labour is seems just repeats its past history, Miliband/Balls is an echo of Blair/Brown.