Nick Clegg has made this statement on Channel Four News:
‘I have always been open that my personal opinion that the legal base is not justified for our going into war. That wasn’t the view of the previous government, this government as a whole, the new coalition government, doesn’t take a view on the legality of it. But I don’t think it is right for me to enter government and somehow completely airbrush out well-known personal views that I have held and expressed for a very long time. ‘I am the deputy prime minister, I am also a human being who feels with great conviction about things. I don’t think that politics is well served by politicians suddenly falling utterly silent on things that they are well known to feel strongly about.’
Is Clegg right? If the government does not take a view on the legality of the Iraq War, then the deputy minister should not assert his personal view when speaking on behalf of the government.
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