By IRNA,
London : Former international development secretary Clare Short Tuesday accused former prime minister Tony Blair of lying to her and misleading parliament in the build-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion.
Short, who resigned from her cabinet post over the war, said that the conflict had put the world in greater danger of international terrorism.
“I think for the attorney general to come and say there’s unequivocal legal authority to go war was misleading,” she said when giving evidence to the Iraq inquiry.
“There was a lot of misleading of parliament too by the prime minister of the day,” the former minister said, believing that invading Iraq without a second UN resolution would be illegal and there was a significant risk of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Short threatened to quit the government before the conflict began, describing Blair as “reckless” during the build-up to military action, resigning less than two months later in protest about post-war planning.
She said prior to the invasion, the ministerial code was broken as cabinet colleagues were not aware of Attorney General Lord Goldsmith changing his legal advice on the war.
“The ministerial code is unsafe because it is enforced by the prime minister and if he’s in on the tricks then that’s it. When I found out what went into it (Goldsmith’s advice) I think we were misled,” she said.
The former cabinet minister also revealed that Prime Minister Gordon Brown was “was very unhappy and marginalised” in the run up to the war, when he was chancellor of the exchequer.
She said that Brown, who is due shortly to give evidence to the inquiry, was disillusioned about a number of issues, not specifically Iraq, and felt Blair was “obsessed with his legacy”.
In an interview with the BBC last Sunday, Short said that Brown feared Blair would use a quick victory over Saddam Hussein to strengthen his political position at home and remove him from his Treasury post.
She also said that, while Brown did not speak out in cabinet against the war, he did not support it. Giving evidence, she described cabinet meetings as “little chats” rather than decision-making opportunities.