5 |
Advice on the legal basis for military action, November 2002 to
March 2003
“As soon as
we are clear on the second resolution (whether it fails to get
the
necessary
votes or is not put to a vote), Cabinet should meet again for a
discussion
on the
politics and to put a proposition to Parliament for immediate
debate.”261
670.
Mr Campbell
wrote in his diaries that Lord Williams of Mostyn, the Leader of
the
House of
Lords, had “said there would be a debate [in Cabinet] on the
legality” and
Ms Short
had said Lord Goldsmith should be present. Mr Blair had “said
of course
671.
On 13 March,
several newspapers commented on the exchanges which had
taken
place in
the House of Commons the previous day.
672.
A leading
article in The
Guardian exhorted
Mr Blair to “re-engage with Mr Chirac”
and stated
that he should:
“… come
clean about the legal advice that has been given to the Government
by
the
Attorney General. Either the Attorney has advised that to wage war
in defiance
of a vetoed
UN resolution is acceptable under international law, or he has
advised
that it is
not. The difference is very important and the public has a right to
know
what has
been advised. To say nothing is merely to sow suspicion. In the
Commons
yesterday,
Mr Blair said that Britain was determined to act ‘on a proper
legal basis’.
That has
all the sound of a weasel formulation”.263
673.
In the same
edition, the political editor referred to the exchanges in
Parliament
and to a
radio interview in which Mr Kenneth Clarke (Conservative) had
stated that the
advice of
the Law Officers had been made available on previous
occasions.264
674.
Articles in
the Financial
Times and
The
Times referred to
the questions asked by
Mr Kennedy
and to the request that Lord Goldsmith’s advice should be
published.265
675.
In
Parliament on 13 March, several MPs called for a statement on
the
Attorney
General’s advice regarding the legal basis for military
action.
261
Minute
Chakrabarti to Secretary of State [DFID], 12 March 2003, ‘Cabinet’
13 March 2003: Iraq’.
262
Campbell A
& Hagerty B. The
Alastair Campbell Diaries. Volume 4. The Burden of Power:
Countdown
to
Iraq. Hutchinson,
2012.
263
The
Guardian, 13 March
2003, The need to
get real: Blair is in denial about Iraq options.
264
The
Guardian, 13 March
2003, Threat of
war: Publish advice on legality of war, opponents urge
No.10.
265
Financial
Times, 13 March
2003, Iraq Crisis
Blair Under Pressure; The Times, 13 March
2003, Resolute
Blair insists
that he will stay the course.
121