3:31pm Friday 12th March 2010
GORDON Brown’s disingenuous evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry has been rightly denounced by retired military chiefs and contradicted by a senior civil servant, all of whom were well placed to know the truth and are now free to speak out.
Mr Brown, as an enormously powerful Chancellor in Tony Blair’s Government, had almost total command of whole swathes of domestic policy and little interest at that time in defence. He chose to spend vast amounts of taxpayers’ money on education and the NHS to win votes for re-election, without seeking value for money by insisting on essential reforms. It is unlikely that as Prime Minister he would have committed British troops to Iraq, but he chose not to resign because he had no wish to destroy the Labour Government from the backbenches, as this would have prevented him eventually ousting Mr Blair and occupying No 10.
As Prime Minister from 2007, he found himself responsible for two wars, and faced with increasing criticism and mounting casualties found it necessary to be more positive, hence the belated improvements in equipment, and headline seeking visits to the troops, the most notorious occurring that autumn during the Conservative Conference when he was hoping to call a snap election.
Gordon Brown is in fact just as guilty as Tony Blair for the unnecessary loss of life and damage caused to our troops’ reputation. Neither grasped the full implications of our involvement and their party’s deep-seated aversion to defence spending has cost this country dear.
CHARLES LINFIELD Southfields Bakers Road Wroughton Swindon
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