Tony Blair Iraq inquiry evidence ludicrous, says Short
Clare Short said Gordon Brown was marginalised by Tony Blair
The argument put forward by Tony Blair
in his evidence to the Iraq inquiry was "ludicrous", former cabinet
minister Clare Short has said.
It was wrong to suggest, after the 11 September attacks, that al-Qaeda would team up with "rogue states".
Gordon Brown, then Chancellor, was "marginalised" when the decision to go to war was made, Ms Short said.
Ms Short resigned as International Development Secretary shortly after the invasion of Iraq in early 2003.
Former Prime Minister Mr Blair spent six hours giving evidence to the Iraq inquiry in Friday.
'No such threat'
He said Saddam had been a "monster and I believe he threatened not just the region but the world."
Mr Blair also stressed the British and American attitude towards the
threat posed by Saddam Hussein "changed dramatically" after the terror
attacks on 11 September 2001, saying: "I never regarded 11 September as
an attack on America, I regarded it as an attack on us."
Speaking on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show, Ms Short described Mr Blair as
"preachy", adding: "There was no link at the time between Saddam
Hussein and al-Qaeda. So there was no such threat."
Asked about Mr Brown's role in the decision to go to war, she said: "Gordon was marginalised and not in the inner group."
She added that "they [Mr Blair and his supporters] wanted him out of
the Treasury... and they were going to offer him the Foreign Office and
that he wouldn't accept it."
Ms Short is to give evidence to the Iraq inquiry on Tuesday. Mr Brown
has said he will do the same before the general election, which is
expected to take place on 6 May.
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