Thursday, April 28, 2005

Iraq: back on the front page

At long last.

After my complaints last week, it's good to see that the invasion of Iraq has finally made it onto the front pages in the run-up to the election, thanks to the leaked document from the Attorney General about the legality of the offensive.

Of course it's just what Blair didn't want - the issue raising its head and biting him in the arse again. The look of exasperation on his face and that open-handed gesture every time he's asked about his decision to take the country to war and about issues of trust say it all, really. He must have been very happy with the extent to which Iraq had been swept under the carpet.

Surely this is the opportunity the Lib Dems and the Green Party have been waiting for, and one they can't afford to pass up? But even now Charles Kennedy has been moderate in his choice of language, preferring "misleading" to Michael Howard's much more aggressive labelling of Blair as a "liar". (Of course the Tory's arguments are pathetically paper-thin and hypocritical, given their support for military action.)

It's not just about cynical party political points-scoring. It's about reminding the British public of the way in which we were deceived and betrayed by our elected representatives - and reminding them that next week's ballot gives us the power to actually do something about it.

No comments: