This entry was posted on
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2005 at
6:19 pm and is filed
under Tony ‘King Blair.

This has just been passed to me by Wibbler:

Intriguing new development tonight on the government’s legal advice on going to war with Iraq. Can’t say any more at this point I’m afraid, suffice to say it’s important, and you should watch if you can.

That’s Channel 4 news at 7pm, folks. It may or may not be related to this…

Independent – Reforms announced after Iraq war intelligence faults: New safeguards to prevent a repeat of the intelligence failings in the run-up to the war on Iraq were announced today by the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. The changes will tighten up the procedures under which the Government deals with secret intelligence, following the criticism in last year’s Butler Report of Tony Blair’s informal style of “government by sofa”.

UPDATE:

Channel 4 – Law of the war: Extraordinary new light has been shed on the Attorney General’s dramatic and rapid change of heart on the legality of war. An unprecedented insight from inside the Foreign Office which backs the view that the Attorney General DID change his mind about invading Iraq – deciding suddenly that it was legal, just when the government needed him to. The resignation letter of a government law officer who quit on the eve of war is published – with one key passage blanked out… We reveal the missing words and ask why the government didn’t want you to see them.

And those missing words are as follows…

“My views accord with the advice that has been given consistently in this Office (the foreign office legal team office) before and after the adoption of UN security council resolution 1441 and with what the Attorney General gave us to understand was his view prior to his letter of 7 March. (The view expressed in that letter has of course changed again into what is now the official line.)”

UPDATE:

So that’s…

“We need a second UN resolution.”
“We can’t get a second UN resolution.”
*cough*
“We don’t need a second UN resolution.”
“Bombs away!”