In whose name?
In early 2003, as the prospect of conflict loomed, thousands of Quakers joined over a million other protesters in saying ‘not in our name’. Their opinion was completely ignored. Symon Hill watched with interest as Tony Blair confronted the Chilcot Inquiry
‘There’s not as many people here as last time,’ said a policeman at the protest against Tony Blair, almost as if he were disappointed with the turnout. As Blair appeared before the Iraq Inquiry for a second time, around a hundred protesters gathered outside the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre in London.
‘I didn’t want to miss any of it,’ explained Noel Hamel, who said he was one of the first three activists to turn up outside the building at around 8am. ‘Even if I was on my sickbed, I would still have got up and come’.
Noel Hamel had been a Labour Party member for thirty-five years before resigning over Iraq. He described the invasion as Blair’s ‘greatest sin’.
The protesters included pacifists, human rights campaigners and a group from Italy who had travelled to London to demonstrate against Tony Blair. Mary Holmes said that ‘Tony Blair lied and should admit it’. Shareefa Panchbhaya insisted passionately that ‘people are still suffering’ in Iraq.
Hundreds of journalists piled into the media room next door to the inquiry, watching the hearing on large screens. There were moments of collective laughter when Tony Blair was seen to make some remarks with an air of great confidence. At one point, he insisted his administration was ‘probably the most successful centre-left government in the world’.
Roderick Lyme, the panel’s most combative member, got things off to a heated start by asking about cabinet approval for war. The way the decision was made to invade Iraq is crucially important to many of those who declared ‘not in my name’ in the run-up to the invasion.
Citing cabinet minutes, Roderick Lyme said the cabinet had no ‘substantive discussion’ about Iraq between April and September 2002, despite Tony Blair having told US president George Bush that Britain was prepared for war if necessary.
Tony Blair repeatedly removed his glasses and put them back on again as Roderick Lyme’s grilling intensified. He interrupted Roderick Lyme several times and at one point almost shouted.
‘What isn’t clear is at what point you were actually asking the cabinet to make decisions,’ insisted Roderick Lyme. Tony Blair said ministers knew military action was being considered due to stories in the media. Tony Blair was asked if it would have been better to include more ministers in decision-making. ‘It would not have made a great deal of difference,’ he said. ‘I had the right people there’.
Roderick Lyme eventually dropped the subject and other panel members took up questions about George Bush. John Chilcot criticised the Cabinet Office’s decision not to publish the records of communications between George Bush and Tony Blair. The panel members have read them, but can’t quote them.
Tony Blair admitted not telling Bush that he had received formal advice that the invasion would be illegal. He said: ‘it would have started raising doubts about whether we were really with them.’
Tony Blair’s mannerisms and facial expressions changed rapidly throughout the hearing. Towards the end, he was in familiar mode, speaking assertively about the ‘threat’ from Iran and saying the West should ‘stop apologising’.
The panel were far more confrontational than last year, but the process did not impress the campaigners outside. They repeatedly insisted that Tony Blair should stand trial for war crimes.
‘If there was a reasonable thought that I’d committed a crime, I’d definitely be in a court,’ said activist Craig Clark. ‘There is no way that at the end of this process, justice will be done’.
