Post-Hutton

Tony Blair is in serious trouble – and for good reason.

After the week he “escaped” – with his (regrettable) victory on student taxes and his exoneration by Lord Hutton – the Prime Minister must face the most serious question: why did he take Britain to war with Iraq?

This is the question I and my party’s leader, Charles Kennedy, have continually asked Mr Blair. Unlike others, Mr Kennedy has avoided personal abuse and refused to be diverted by the Hutton Inquiry, from the Opposition’s top task: of holding the Government to account for things that matter.

The Iraq war mattered – far more than whether a BBC report was right to the last letter and syllable. Thousands of people killed. British soldiers killed. Billions of pounds spent. The real war – against terrorism – delayed and disrupted.

So we need a new enquiry. Into the war. And why the intelligence was so damagingly wrong.

We must avoid being wise with hindsight. Yet many argued before the war the evidence on weapons of mass destruction was not strong enough to justify a pre-emptive invasion. Before the Commons vote on the war, I wrote in this paper, “The Prime Minister's dossier makes a strong case for action. That action should be the UN weapons inspectors re-entering Iraq.”

Why did Tony Blair follow President Bush and reject the UN? We must demand answers.