Comment at end
30th January, 2009
BLAIR: “The consequences of this go far beyond the individual cabinet meetings when I was prime minister. I think it is best to leave to the present government.” The ‘consequences’ he refers to may have little to do with the Iraq decision-making process but everything to do with disregarding the present 30 year rule. If Brown’s government capitulates on this, they will need to wear gags and use invisible ink in ALL future cabinet meetings. Now THAT’S a “consequence”. REALLY secretive, timid decision-making.
BOVVERED? I AIN’T BOVVERED – Says Blair (watch video below)
Well, why should he be? All the release of these Minutes will show is that the decision was discussed adequately, that his cabinet did not vote against, and that the legal advice may, just may, have altered somewhat between meeting one and meeting two. THAT’S what a legal adviser is THERE for – to make sure he knows what he’s talking about!
All right – they may also show that this cabinet was pretty supine. That’s what Blair was working with. Apart from Brown, who used to sulk like a moody teenager, the quality wasn’t there. That’s partially why Blair developed his so-called “sofa government”. (The quality’s still not there in cabinet, imho. Wonder how the sulking “teenager” copes now?)
But as it happens they were right in this decision, even if by default. Whether the little Blair Bashers like it or not, it was a Blair proposal, Cabinet motion, then parliamentary decision. You won’t get Mr Blair alone for this, guys. You’ll have to put them all in the dock.
No wonder Mr Blair is content to leave it to the present government to sort out.
DAVOS, Switzerland (CNN) — Former British prime minister Tony Blair said Friday he was “not concerned” by a ruling that details of cabinet meetings in the run-up to the Iraq war should be made public and told CNN the release of the minutes was a decision for the current government.
Blair committed UK forces to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 despite strong domestic opposition to British involvement.
“My reaction is that this is for the government now to deal with,” he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an interview at the World Economic Forum.
“The consequences of this go far beyond the individual cabinet meetings when I was prime minister. I think it is best to leave to the present government.”
Asked whether he was concerned about the contents of the the minutes, Blair said: “I’m not concerned at all.”
Blair, currently a special envoy for the “Quartet” of Middle Eastern peacemakers — the U.N., the U.S., the EU and Russia — said he was “concentrating on the Middle East peace process.”
The UK’s Information Tribunal ruled earlier this month that the government must release notes from two key meetings in which it committed to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
“This is an exceptional case,” the tribunal wrote in its verdict, declaring that the public interest in learning how the government made its decision outweighed the need to keep government discussions confidential.
The Cabinet has been fighting for nearly two years to keep the notes secret. It has 28 days to appeal the decision.
The decision covers only the official minutes of the meetings on March 13 and March 17, 2003, days before the invasion of Iraq began on the night of March 19.
The notes will be edited “to avoid unnecessary risk to the UK’s international relations,” the tribunal ruled.
The agency rejected a separate request for the release of informal notes taken by participants at the meetings.
At the March 17 meeting, Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith laid out his opinion that there was legal justification for the invasion, according to the ruling. He presented his views to Britain’s Parliament later the same day, which made them available to the public.
HE AIN’T BOVVERED
The Information Tribunal’s responsibilities and authority to sit in judgement of this kind of sensitive government business were widened following Tony Blair’s government’s Freedom of Information Act, 2000. It’s not the first time Mr Blair and colleagues have been threatened with being hoist by their own petard.
But there you go. That’s gratitude for you.
Tags: 30 years rule, Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith, Cabinet Minutes to be released, Gordon Brown, I ain't bovvered Red Nose video YouTube, Information Tribunal decision, Iraq war meetings, March 13th 17th 2003, March 2003, Tony Blair not concerned over Iraq Minutes
