5 |
Advice on the legal basis for military action, November 2002 to
March 2003
601.
Asked about
the conclusions of the meeting with Lord Goldsmith, Mr Blair
wrote:
“I did see
him briefly, I think, on 11 March 2003 before the meeting with the
other
Cabinet
members. I cannot recall the specific content of the discussion but
most
likely it
would have been about his coming to Cabinet to explain his
decision.”238
602.
In the edition
of his diaries published in 2012, Mr Campbell wrote
that
Lord Goldsmith:
“… had done
a long legal opinion and said he did not want TB to present it
too
positively.
He wanted to make it clear he felt there was a reasonable case for
war
under 1441.
There was also a case to be made the other way and a lot
would
depend on
what actually happened. TB also made clear that he did not
particularly
want
Goldsmith to launch a detailed discussion at Cabinet, though it
would have to
happen at
some time, and Ministers would want to cross-examine. With the
mood
as it was,
and with Robin [Cook] and Clare [Short] operating as they were, he
knew
that if
there was any nuance at all, they would be straight out saying the
advice
was that it
was not legal, that the AG was casting doubt on the legal basis for
war.
Peter Goldsmith
was clear that though a lot depended on what happened, he
was
casting
doubt in some circumstances and if Cabinet had to approve the
policy of
going to
war, he had to be able to put the reality to them. Sally [Morgan]
said it was
for TB to
speak to Cabinet, and act on the AG’s advice. He would simply say
the
advice said
there was a reasonable case. The detailed discussion would
follow.
“… Peter
G[oldsmith] told TB he had been thinking of nothing else for three
weeks,
that he
wished he could be clearer in his advice, but in reality it was
nuanced.”239
603.
On 11
March, Ministers discussed legal issues, including holding back
for
a few
days the response to a US request for the use of UK
bases.
604.
They also
discussed the viability of the military plan.
605.
Mr Blair
held a meeting on 11 March with Mr Prescott, Mr Hoon,
Lord Goldsmith
and Admiral
Boyce. Mr Straw attended part of the meeting.240
Sir Andrew
Turnbull,
Mr Powell,
Mr Campbell, Baroness Morgan, Sir David Manning and
Mr Rycroft were also
present.
606.
Prior to the
meeting, Mr Straw’s Private Office wrote to No.10 on 11
March
reporting
that the US was pressing for a response “as soon as possible” to a
letter to
Mr Straw
delivered by the US Ambassador on 5 March. It had formally
requested the UK
238
Statement,
14 January 2011, page 11.
239
Campbell A
& Hagerty B. The
Alastair Campbell Diaries. Volume 4. The Burden of Power:
Countdown
to
Iraq. Hutchinson,
2012.
240
Letter
Rycroft to McDonald, 11 March 2003, ‘Iraq: Legal and Military
Aspects’.
109