QUESTIONS FOR BROWN AFTER BLAIR’S “SHAMEFUL” CHATSHOW ADMISSION

QUESTIONS FOR BROWN AFTER BLAIR’S “SHAMEFUL” CHATSHOW ADMISSION

LABOUR TRY TO REWRITE HISTORY OVER IRAQ – WAR NOT ABOUT WMD

The SNP have rounded on Labour over attempts to re-write history over Iraq, and stepped up calls for Gordon Brown to give evidence to the Chilcot inquiry and explain whether he would have still bankrolled the illegal war had he know there was no WMD in Iraq. The demands come as former Prime Minister Tony Blair admitted the weapons of mass destruction were not the point of the war – contradicting repeated claims he made in parliament and in public as prime minister.

SNP Westminster leader and Defence spokesperson Angus Robertson MP also said the current and former prime ministers must give evidence in public – after reports today (Sunday) that the Chilcot inquiry would hear Mr Blair’s crucial testimony behind closed doors.

Mr Robertson said:

"Tony Blair’s comments are a shameful admission from a shameful man. He may now cut a rather pathetic figure, but the people who aided and abetted him in pursuing an illegal war are still in government, and tens perhaps hundreds of thousands of people are dead as a result of his duplicity. Alex Salmond and the SNP Westminster group played a leading role in seeking to impeach Tony Blair, and these latest remarks underline the rightness of that cause.

“Tony Blair was clearly set on war with or without weapons of mass destruction, and Gordon Brown bankrolled it – now both men must give evidence in public. Tony Blair is on record time after time saying that the war was not about regime change, and now he is trying to change the entire basis for the war to cover up the fact that we were dragged into an illegal adventure on a false pretence.

"Gordon Brown must explain whether he would still have bankrolled the war had he known there were never any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. As Chancellor, he wrote the cheques for the disastrous war in Iraq.

"And it would be unacceptable if evidence was not taken in public – especially after Tony Blair’s astonishing chatshow attempt to re-write history. Both men should appear side by side when they give evidence, so that we can get to the truth behind the biggest foreign policy disaster in modern times.

"This inquiry will be judged on the answers that it provides, and these fundamental questions must be addressed."