PM Gordon Brown, who promised an ‘independent’ inquiry into the Iraq war early in his reign when he was trying to schmooze Labour MPs, is stalling now that he has announced that most British troops will be withdrawn by the end of July next year.
He’s said throughout that he doesn’t want an inquiry until all the troops are home, but conveniently he’s leaving 400 of them there to ‘assist’ the Iraqis after the pull-out.
The last thing Brown wants is an inquiry in the run-up to a general election (the last possible date is May 2010).
Although Brown tried hard to distance himself from the war when he was chancellor, he still voted for it and prevailed on his back bench supporters to back Tony Blair when the decisive vote in Parliament took place.
It really wouldn’t suit him to see the likes of former PM Tony Blair, his spin doctor Alastair Campbell, then foreign secretary Jack Straw and MI6 head John Scarlett (who authored the ‘dodgy’ dossier about weapons of mass destruction with Campbell) dragged in irons before the beak.
So the unfortunate 400 had better lay in additional supplies of Factor 30. They could be sunning themselves at Basra airport for a few years to come.