Blair or B-Liar?

1 September 2003


Mr. Blair Bumbles

Prime Minister Tony Blair should have been smarter than this, or he is exceptionally confident. Last week, testifying before an inquiry chaired by Lord Hutton, Mr. Blair said that if his government had "sexed up" information about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, he would have to resign. It won't take much now for him to lose his job.

The idea of ministerial responsibility is one of Britain's finest inventions. Whether justly or not, it holds that the minister (or in some cases other official) bears responsibility for what goes on in his or her department and that if something serious wrong or bad occurs, the minister pays by resigning. This gives elected officials a vested interest in making sure an even keel prevails.

However, the prime minister has erred in saying he himself would have to resign (and most likely force new elections) if the popularly named "dodgy dossier" actually contained willful misinformation ( or if one prefers a shorter term "lies"). Those who claim that the sexing up occurred are pointing the finger at Alastair Campbell, Mr. Blair's communications director (a most un-British concept), not the PM. Mr. Campbell's head would be an appropriate one to fall should the sexing up have happened. But his resignation last week doesn't stop the rot thanks to Mr. Blair's statement.

Mr. Blair, perhaps guided by a loyalty to Mr. Campbell, perhaps in a weak moment, accepted that he himself would take the responsibility. Now, all it takes is a hand scribbled memo or a misplaced e-mail, and the Blair years are over. Regime change indeed.

Readers of the Kensington Review are urged to read for themselves the testimony and review the evidence at http://www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk.

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