Prescott doubts over Iraq revealed

Published on Friday 30 July 2010 16:34

FORMER deputy prime minister John Prescott privately harboured doubts about the intelligence used to justify the invasion of Iraq in 2003, he has disclosed

Giving evidence to the final session of the Iraq Inquiry before the summer, he said many of the reports about Saddam Hussein's supposed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) appeared to be just "tittle tattle".

Lord Prescott also spoke of the intense pressure on former attorney general Lord Goldsmith, saying he was "not a very happy bunny" as he agonised over whether military action would be legal.

And he revealed he had complained to the cabinet secretary about Tony Blair's informal style of "sofa government", saying he regarded the lack of formal cabinet discussion as "dangerous".

Lord Prescott told the inquiry he had been surprised at how insubstantial some of the reports on Iraqi WMD by the Joint Intelligence Committee - the UK's senior intelligence body - had been. "I kept thinking to myself, 'Is this intelligence? It's basically what you have heard somewhere and what somebody else has told somebody'.

"Presumably, that's how intelligence is brought about. So I got the feeling it wasn't very substantial," he said. "The conclusions were a little ahead, I think, of what the evidence we had. Perhaps that's the way it is. I just thought, 'Well this is the intelligence document, this is what you have. It seems robust but not enough to justify to that'.

"Certainly what they do in intelligence is a bit of tittle tattle here and a bit more information there.

"I didn't totally dismiss it, I didn't have any evidence to feel that they were wrong, but I just felt a little bit nervous about conclusions on Iraq's force that seemed to be (based on] limited intelligence."

Lord Prescott said Lord Goldsmith had found the process of coming to a decision on whether it would be legal to invade Iraq without specific authorisation from the United Nations Security Council a difficult one. "He was not a very happy bunny," he said. "His demeanour was that he had a lot of weight on his shoulders having to give a decision. Everybody is coming up to him and saying, 'Hey, Peter, is it legal?"'

He said Lord Goldsmith's concern may have reflected doubts that he could have defended his final advice that military action was lawful in court. "Perhaps he wasn't happy that he could win that case in court. We couldn't wait until a court to find out.We had to make a decision," the former deputy PM said.

He admitted that ministers had been wrong to blame then French president Jacques Chirac for the breakdown of negotiations in the Security Council to agree a resolution that would have authorised the use of force.

"I think the poor old French got blamed for a lot of it," he said. "The French easily come to mind in the Brits' mind when we want to blame people. There is a lot of history for that."

Lord Prescott acknowledged he had played a central role in the government, meeting Mr Blair privately two or three times a week to discuss issues such as Iraq. "I was on the sofa all the time," he joked.

Nevertheless, he said that in the early days of the Labour government, he had complained to the then cabinet secretary Sir Robin (now Lord) Butler about the informal way business was done, only to be told that was how Mr Blair wanted it.

"I began to feel that 'sofa government', where key ministers came to an agreement with the prime minister and then sorted it out at cabinet knowing they had the prime minister onside, was not a proper way to get into full discussion," he said. "I thought that was a very dangerous process."

Despite his regular meetings with Mr Blair, he said the former prime minister had never told him whether he had given then US president George Bush an assurance that Britain would join the Americans if they did invade.

"He never did tell me if he had come to any agreement," he said.

He dismissed claims by those such as the former British ambassador Sir Christopher Meyer - "I call him 'red socks', I can't think of his name" - who suggested there had been a secret deal between the two men.

He described how Mr Blair had invited him to sit in on one of his video conferences with the US president. "He did say to me 'Don't be worried about his language'. I don't think he meant the swearing but the style and aggression that would be involved. I must say, listening to it, I now know what he means," Lord Prescott said.

In his own words - what Prescott said in 2003 about Iraq war and Tony Blair

"Everyone knows Saddam has weapons of mass destruction."

"There is no doubt that Tony Blair is acting in a very courageous way and is doing what he believes to be right and we are supporting him in that."

"I think everyone is concerned about the war in Iraq, from those who are actively involved in it to those people who are concerned and protesting, and we can only hope that it will finish shortly and we will carry out what we believe is the UN mandate. Sometimes you have to do things that you think are right and the public must make a judgment at election time."

"Nobody has tried harder than our government and our Prime Minister to resolve this diplomatically."

"We deeply regret that French intransigence and Iraqi non-compliance have left us with no option but to bring discussions on our draft resolution to an end."

"In situations like this, the job of a leadership is to take action because it is right and just. Such actions are rarely popular. Tony Blair is such a leader. I trust him to make the right judgments."

"Either Saddam goes into exile or he is disarmed by force."