Iraq inquiry 'unravelling Blair deceit' claims SNP

Published on Sunday 31 July 2011 18:32

TONY BLAIR'S "tapestry of deceit" over the Iraq war is "unravelling", it has been claimed.

Nationalist MP Angus Robertson welcomed reports that the Chilcot Inquiry would deliver a damning criticism of the former prime minister when its findings are published in the autumn.

The SNP's Westminster defence spokesman also warned the report would raise "difficult questions" for MPs who backed the invasion.

He said: "The tapestry of deceit woven by Tony Blair over the past decade has finally unravelled. Despite his best attempts to fudge the issue when he was called to give evidence, the Chilcot Inquiry has recognised the former prime minister's central role in leading the UK into the worst foreign policy disaster in recent history.

"The report is set to raise difficult questions for those Labour and Tory MPs and MSPs who backed Blair's illegal and immoral invasion. They are all jointly and severally liable for the disaster that occurred."

The inquiry's report will round on the former prime minister for telling parliament that intelligence suggesting Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction was "beyond doubt", according to reports.

It has been claimed the Chilcot Inquiry will also criticise Mr Blair for failing to admit to a "secret pledge" with George Bush, then US president, made when the pair met at a Texas ranch in 2002, that he would go to war.

Reports also suggest Mr Blair will be criticised for adopting so-called "sofa government'" - a small core of key allies who conferred away from formal meetings - so Cabinet ministers were unaware of vital information

Officials are writing the report and all witnesses will be given the chance to respond to any inaccuracies.

A spokesman for Mr Blair said: "This is a deliberate attempt to prejudge a report that hasn't even been written yet. We're not going comment until it has been published."