THE HANDSTAND

 FEB.-MARCH2011
 

Tony Blair went to war without cabinet consent, senior mandarins say

Tony Blair has been accused by two former heads of the civil service of taking the country to war in Iraq without the approval of his cabinet.

Rosa Prince By Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent 5:53PM GMT 25 Jan 2011

Lord Wilson of Dinton and Lord Turnbull both rejected the former prime minister’s claim that cabinet ministers “knew the score” and had been aware that he had agreed to invade Iraq soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Appearing before the Iraq Inquiry, the two men painted a picture of the “sofa government” in operation under New Labour, and told of their futile attempts to persuade Mr Blair to resume the “classical” structures of cabinet committees.

In some of most damning evidence heard by the inquiry to date, the respected former mandarins rejected claims made by Mr Blair to the committee last week in which he insisted that cabinet ministers were kept informed of the progress to war.

Lord Turnbull said that the cabinet was not asked for their approval until the eve of the invasion in March 2003, by which time they were “imprisoned” and had little choice but to consent – or bring the prime minister down.

His predecessor, Lord Wilson, who retired in September 2002, disclosed that at no point during his time as the country’s top civil service was the cabinet aware that a decision had been taken to invade Iraq.

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Their evidence contradicts that of Mr Blair who claimed last Friday that he first discussed the likelihood of toppling Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein with United States President George W Bush in November 2001, and that the prospect of war was well known from that point.

Lord Turnbull also accused the then-prime minister of breaching the ministerial code by failing to ensure that the attorney general was asked for his advice about the legality of the war in “good time”.

Describing how Mr Blair repeatedly delayed substantive cabinet discussion on Iraq, he said: "The prime minister basically said, 'well, they knew the score'. That isn't borne out by what actually happened.

"By the summer [2002] he had largely made up his mind at a time when his colleagues were still a long way behind."

Lord Wilson said that during a cabinet meeting in April 2002, Mr Blair assured his ministers that "nothing was imminent” on Iraq.

He told the inquiry: "I don't think anyone would have gone away thinking they had authorised a course of action that would lead to military action."

Lord Turnbull said that the cabinet was effectively not asked to approve the war until three days before fighting began – by which time their options were limited.

"They were pretty much imprisoned,” he said. “They were pretty much captive other than a major break … which probably would have meant that the prime minister wouldn't have survived. I don't think they did have any choice."

Sir Roderic Lyne, the former senior diplomat who is a member of the inquiry panel, pointed out that ministers were asked to take collective responsibility for the war without receiving a single cabinet paper on the subject in the previous 18 months.

Lord Turnbull agreed that important documents were kept from the cabinet – adding that it was surprising that most ex-ministers had remained loyal to Mr Blair.

"Oddly enough, not many of them say, 'I was misled' or 'I thought this was an abuse'. They by and large stick together – apart from the ones who subsequently resigned."

Both civil servants also repeatedly criticised senior figures within New Labour for seeking to do away with cabinet government and establish a new system under which Mr Blair could drive policy forward in “ad hoc” meetings with small groups of sympathisers.

They rejected comparisons made in books by Lord Mandelson, the former spin chief, and Jonathan Powell, Mr Blair’s chief of staff, that the system mirrored that introduced during Baroness Thatcher’s time as prime minister.

The two men, who worked under Lady Thatcher, said that she had always maintained cabinet government.

Mr Powell was described by Lord Wilson as "ungracious" for writing about him.

Lord Turnbull said references in the former Downing Street aide's book to civil servant objections to the sofa government style as "the death rattle of the old mandarin class" were probably a swipe at him.