Andrew Gilligan

Bit by bit, Blair is forced to face the truth

Andrew Gilligan finds that Lord Butler has purportedly exonerated the Prime Minister, while supporting many key charges against him, the government and the intelligence services

issue 17 July 2004

It is curious sometimes how life comes full circle. Exactly a year ago I was sitting in an office at the BBC, listening to government ministers denying all wrongdoing. As I write this, I am sitting in an office at the BBC, waiting to be interviewed, listening to government ministers denying all wrongdoing. Their task is rather harder than it was before.

Lord Butler’s committee has pronounced on the great question — did the government mislead us all over the reasons for war? To the vast majority of the public, this is an issue about as opaque and mysterious as the religion of the Pope or the sanitary habits of bears in woods; but successive official inquiries, and a stubborn minority of the media, have been unable to bring themselves to say that Tony Blair committed deceit.

For the foreign affairs committee and the intelligence and security committee, the reason is simple.

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