Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Identifying Brown’s culpability in Iraq

The Tories have missed a trick in responding to the predictable news that Gordon Brown won’t be giving evidence to the Iraq Inquiry until after the election. William Hague has just said that it stinks. He should have followed up by listing the questions Brown should be asked – highlighting the extent of his personal culpability in our defeat in Basra and treatment of the troops:

1) Did you ever ask yourself why Britain came to be fighting two wars on a peacetime budget?

2) During the 2007 Tory Patrty conference you went to Iraq and said that 500 troops would be home by Christmas. This decision stunned the Ministry of Defence, and turned out to have been – how can we put this, Prime Minister – untrue. Can you explain why you made this claim, and why you decided not to clear it with the MoD?

3) In Jan08 you also told the House of Commons that violence in Basra has “gone down by 90 per cent over the past few months”.

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