Stop Blair! Prevent a disaster!

This week the families of British people killed in Iraq have been trying to stiffen the backbone of Sir John Chilcot's inquiry, and ensure that it finds out exactly what lies we were told, why, and by whom. And what of the man who brought you the UK's greatest foreign policy disaster in at least half a century? Well, he is being touted for further aggrandisement.

Those who want Tony Blair as the lavishly rewarded President of Europe have been joined by……. the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. By their friends ye shall know them. Mind you, Mr Berlusconi may find himself rather too busy to campaign very actively. Now that his claim that he should be above the law has been dismissed, he could face three court cases, including one in which he is alleged to have handed over a huge bribe to get the estranged husband of one of Mr Blair’s henchpeople to give false evidence.

It is, of course, a scandal that Europe’s “President” should be chosen secretly in some stitch-up by national political leaders. But we don’t just have to stand by and accept it. Sign the “Stop Blair” petition now! http://stopblair.eu/

See also my blogs of Feb 25, 28, March 1, 11, 22, May 1, June 16, 22, July 30, August 3.

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.