Blair reveals 'no regrets' to El Pais

 

Tony Blair, the former UK Prime Minister has told the Spanish " El Pais " newspaper that he "would again do everything he could to expel Saddam Hussein".

Mr Blair was in Madrid last week, and included a journalist from El País in the press conferences and one-to-one interviews which took place last Thursday. The Chilcot Inquiry into Britain's involvement in Iraq began in the UK last week, and Jose Manuel Clavo from El Pais asked Mr Blair if he would take the same decision again with regards to the Invasion of Iraq.

Mr Blair answered 'We would have to take into account that the information we received turned out to be incorrect,' but added, 'If you are asking me if I would again do everything I could to expel Saddam, the answer, clearly, is yes'. And when asked if, looking back, he had any doubts or anything he regretted, the reply was, 'I always say that what came after deposing Saddam was much worse than we could have foreseen'.

He continued that it is history that must be the judge of whether the decision to invade was indeed correct or not.

The Chilcot Inquiry began last Tuesday and the Mail on Sunday reported that Tony Blair could be questioned over the contents of a memo from the UK's Attorney General which had warned him that an invasion to depose Saddam Hussein would be in breach of international law. The paper said the letter from Lord Goldsmith was sent to the Prime Minister eight months before the invasion took place, and claims that Goldsmith was 'gagged' and a cover-up was subsequently ordered by Blair.

Lord Goldsmith is said to have been under such pressure to keep quiet about the letter, which was allegedly even kept from the Cabinet, that he lost a massive amount of weight and threatened to resign, before he eventually gave qualified legal backing to the conflict. The letter is now understood to be in the possession of the inquiry and both Mr Blair and Lord Goldsmith will likely be questioned about it when they are called to give evidence at some point in the coming year.