The Staggers: Iraq Inquiry

Over on his blog, the BBC's political editor, Nick Robinson, posts a revealing PS about Blair's second appearance before the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war.

What is emerging before our eyes is a clash of cultures between a politician who believes governing is, in the end, about one man's judgement and the Whitehall classes who believe it should be about official papers, formal consideration of ... read more

Tony Blair has been giving evidence again at the Iraq inquiry for just over an hour, and the most revealing moment came when he was asked about the cabinet's fears ahead of the war.

He replied that, as members of "the most successful centre-left government in the world", ministers were most concerned by the prospect of an alliance with a "right-wing conservative Republican president". One likes to imagine that other concerns ... read more

The Iraq war was "illegal" and the idea that military action merely upheld UN Security Council resolutions was "absurd", the UN weapons inspector Hans Blix told the Chilcot inquiry yesterday afternoon.

Asked what he thought would have happened, had the March 2003 invasion not taken place, Blix said he would have completed the inspections and introduced proper monitoring of Iraq's nuclear, biological and chemical weapons capabilities. When pressed, he said that ... read more

Alastair Campbell showed his sensitive side on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show this morning, getting emotional as he denied that Tony Blair had misled parliament over claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

Marr asked the former communications director to clarify his answer to the question put to him at the Chilcot inquiry: if the original evidence did not support the view that there was clear and unambiguous ... read more

"Bliar is a war criminal and should be tried and executed -- let's bring back castration, disembowelling, hanging and quartering, since he is also a traitor."

This is a more extreme example of the sort of hate-speech being incessantly directed at our former prime minister, which prompted a group of concerned citizens to set up the online petition related to this week's New Statesman ad. Our other worry was that ... read more

When I finally got into the additional viewing facility, which holds around 700 people, the day's work had already started. I felt like I'd walked into a church mid-way through a service -- a hushed quiet over the room, Tony Blair's face dominating a large projection screen at the front of the auditorium, a surprisingly emotional experience.

Everyone was watching the screen intently, listening to his words, scrutinising, looking for something. ... read more

The first session of the afternoon has dealt with two issues: the legal case for war and the planning for the aftermath. The journalists emerging from the hearing room itself say it's oddly silent in there, a hushed silence as the families of soldiers who died in the war watch Tony Blair drive his way through the questions.

The questioning, in my view, didn't go nearly far enough on the legal ... read more

It's the break for lunch. Blair became passionate during the second session of the morning -- emphatically defending the course of action that he took. Perhaps one of the key lines, and the one that provides insight into his perspective, is this:

Sometimes it's important not to ask the March 2003 question but to ask the 2010 question.

Blair forcefully believes that, whatever the process, the result of the action he took ... read more

It's the first break of the morning. Tony Blair eventually hit his stride in the questioning, but in the first few moments the previous prime minister seemed to shake with nerves, his face tense with anticipation. Chilcot gave a preamble -- this isn't "a trial", he reminded us.

Blair, tanned as ever, was soon on typical form. He half-smiled his way through many of the questions, shrugging self-deprecatingly and making jokes ... read more

Circus-like. That's probably the best way to describe the QEII Centre this morning as we wait for Tony Blair to arrive to give evidence to the Iraq inquiry. Or perhaps more like a Roman amphitheatre, the crowd baying for blood.

But if we're honest, the crowd -- a band of banner-waving protesters -- are far outnumbered by the combination of police and photographers. They're valiantly making as much noise as they ... read more

Peter Goldsmith, the former attorney general, appeared before the Iraq inquiry today.

After two Foreign Office ministers yesterday said unequivocally that they believed the Iraq war was in contravention of international law, the focus was on Lord Goldsmith's decision to endorse the war's legality.

Rather predictably, the hearing wasn't as explosive as many media commentators had hoped. Goldsmith dismissed the belief that he had changed his opinion under intense government pressure ... read more

It was the first big name. The scene outside the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster this morning reflected the anticipation. Photographers thronged the entrance, policemen lined the streets, television presenters perched like birds along a wall waiting to go on air. The queue for public access was the longest it had been since the Iraq inquiry had begun, said a dedicated inquiry-goer ahead of me in the queue. ... read more