The duplicity of Tony and his cronies

WITH every week that passes, we learn more shocking detail about the decisions to take Britain into the war in Iraq.

Two weeks ago, The Mail on Sunday revealed how Tony Blair pledged military backing to President George W. Bush while publicly protesting otherwise; last week, we carried Blair’s belated and half-hearted apology for the chaos and bloodshed which ensued.

Now we have gained devastating evidence of the cynicism and duplicity of Blair’s inner circle. ‘Burn it!’ was the reaction of one of the former Prime Minister’s aides when the Attorney General delivered his document warning that an invasion could be illegal.

The remark is typical of the arrogance of Blair’s pre-war Downing Street, a world in which unminuted meetings about matters of global significance were held by a tiny group of cronies.

Decisions were made without consulting the country, the House of Commons or even most of the Cabinet: and the ‘cold fury’ of grieving families who lost their loved ones as a result of these ‘sofa summits’ remains undimmed after more than a decade.

When Lord Goldsmith’s legal opinion arrived on March 7, 2003, the date for war had effectively been set already – and it was only 13 days away.

With British commanders clamouring for reassurance that they would not face war crimes trials, Blair’s cabal was engulfed by panic. Within a little over a week, with our troops massing on Iraq’s border, Lord Goldsmith’s sceptical advice had miraculously turned into a nine-paragraph endorsement of the war.

The law officer’s integrity has not been questioned: this newspaper has previously reported how he repeatedly withstood intense pressure from No 10 to water down his advice.

But how Lord Goldsmith came to revise his opinion at such speed must form a central plank of Sir John Chilcot’s report when it is finally delivered next summer – as must the shocking lengths to which Blair was prepared to go to deceive the British public.