Iraq - Labour's last chance

Sir John Chilcot’s Iraq inquiry opens today. It ought not to be the thing uppermost in his mind, but he probably represents the last chance for Labour to re-establish itself as a fundamentally decent and honest party that foolishly allowed some bad apples to dominate it. That can happen if the inquiry is searching, open, independent and fearless, and if those responsible for the Iraq disaster are held to account. If Sir John serves up another bucket of whitewash, the conclusion of the British people is likely to be that the whole party is irredeemably corrupted.

There are some hopeful signs – Labour’s attempt to hush the whole thing up by conducting the inquiry in secret has been thwarted, but overall the indications are not good. Sir John Chilcot is an establishment man to his fingertips, and has a track record of letting Tony Blair and his cronies off the hook as an underling on the Butler inquiry. The inquiry panel has been packed with Blair apologists, and Labour has specifically told Sir John that he is not supposed to “establish civil or criminal liability”.

All a bit odd isn’t it? When Baby P was killed, Labour was only too happy to apportion blame and sack those responsible. Why should it be different when we are dealing with the much greater disaster of Iraq?

So far the only people to lose their jobs over Iraq have been the chairman and director-general of the BBC, and the BBC reporter who dared to tell the truth. And Labour wrings its hands, claiming not to understand why people are so cynical about it.

Iraq - the cover-up continues

Labour may have bankrupted the country, but there’s still one commodity for which it will always find plenty of money – whitewash. Labour ordered a huge new consignment yesterday as Gordon Brown launched his “inquiry” into the Iraq War. It will be run by an underling from the Butler Inquiry. It will be held in secret and its explicit brief will be to ensure that no one is blamed for what is certainly the biggest British foreign policy disaster in more than half a century, and may be treason and/or a war crime.

You must have misread my blog of June 6th, Gordon. I said that it was essential that the inquiry was “full, public and independent”.

In history, we often find that the cover-up is more damaging than the original deed. Remember Watergate. The act itself is often committed in haste and hot blood by a small group. The cover-up tends to be a cold, calculating enterprise carried out over weeks, months and years, by a much bigger body of conspirators – in this case, the entire Labour Party.

More than six years after the disaster of Iraq, the only people who have lost their jobs are the Chairman and Director-General of the BBC, and the BBC reporter who dared to tell the truth. And Labour MP’s keep wringing their hands and agonising over why people have no respect for politicians! The party’s determination to ensure that those responsible for Iraq are not called to account is a cancer that will destroy Labour unless it is cut out, but it is hard to see this discredited bunch having the guts or the integrity to do the deed.