Gordon Brown will stand before Iraq Inquiry committee before this year's general elections. Photocredit: World Economic Forum/Flickr
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will give evidence at the Iraq Inquiry, ahead of upcoming general elections, much to the delight of the opposition. Sir John Chilcot, chairman of the Inquiry panel, issued a letter to Brown last night, Chilcot offered the Prime Minister, as well as Foreign Secretary David Miliband and International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander, the opportunity to speak before the elections.
According to Al Jazeera, the initial decision to hear from Brown after the elections drew criticism from his opponents, who said the Prime Minister was trying to avoid drawing attention to his role in the war before voters headed to the polls.
Downing Street said Brown had “nothing to hide” and the prime minister was “keen to take up the opportunity to state the case about why Britain was right to take the action it did in respect to Iraq,” reported the BBC.
Chilcot said he wanted the inquiry to “stay outside party politics” but after Brown, who ran the British Treasury before and early in the Iraq war, wrote to him saying he was happy to stand before the committee when necessay, Chilcot said “as a matter of fairness”, he would offer Brown the opportunity to appear before the election.
Opposition parties welcomed the news. According to the BBC, Conservative leader David Cameron said Brown had some “very important questions to answer”, while Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said it was “only right” that he explain his role “before asking the British people for their vote”.
The BBC’s political editor, Nick Robinson, said the timing of Brown’s appearance would be damaging for Labour as it would resurrect an issue that proved detrimental to the party at the last election. The Telegraph said the Prime Minister will have to hope that the British public will not have their memories reawakened, and that the division that Iraq caused internally and among Labour’s supporters will not prove harmful in the elections.
Reuters noted that the Iraq inquiry is climbing the political agenda, reporting that interest will peak next week when former Prime Minister Tony Blair appears on Friday, 29 January.
Add new comment
The Periscope Post reserves the right to delete inappropriate or abusive comments; profanity will not be tolerated. Remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right.