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Nick Clegg's 'illegal' Iraq war gaffe prompts legal warning

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Nick Clegg's 'illegal' Iraq war gaffe prompts legal warning
Coalition in confusion as deputy prime minister pronounces invasion 'illegal' at dispatch box.


Was he speaking as a Liberal or a member of the coailtion/
Standing at the dispatch box is not about stating personal views but the views of the government.

This could now be of great interest to the international war crimes court as it has been said in the house at the dispatch box by the government that the war was illegal.
Arrest Tony Blair ASAP
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jul/21/nick-clegg-illegal-iraq-war-gaffe

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Philippe Sands, professor of law at University College London, said: "A public statement by a government minister in parliament as to the legal situation would be a statement that an international court would be interested in, in forming a view as to whether or not the war was lawful."

    Clegg's remarks could be legally significant because he was standing at the government dispatch box in the Commons.


    Downing Street added that the government would await the findings of the Chilcot inquiry before reaching a view on the war.
    The government looks forward to receiving the inquiry's conclusions."


    But this appeared to be contradicted by the Chilcot inquiry, which issued a statement saying it was examining the legal issues in the run-up to the war but would not make a judgment about the legality of the war.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    A gaffe? Au contraire, TehGrauniad. I wouldn't say that's what it was at all. Cleggover is many things - oppurtunistic, shameless, hungry for power - but he definitely isn't stupid. I'd say that this was quite intentional.

    Tony Blair is a man who is capable of making me feel sick simply by seeing his name. I feel queasy even writing this. He was a man who took the country into an illegal war on the basis of lies, put himself at risk of being called into court to answer for war crimes, and spent several years providing cover for Dubya when he was being attacked. I wondered at the time just why he was doing all of this - I need not have bothered. Like everything else, Blair - and his hideous wife - are motivated solely by money. Hence why Blair is now worth at least £20million, and that's just the wealth that we know about.

    By rights, this cunt should be in jail. Not in an ordinary jail either, but one of those nasty Russian ones, spending every waking moment of his life terrifed that his card is marked. If Cleggy's "gaffe" helps bring this about, I'd be prepared to give the man an awful lot of credit indeed.

    tony-blair.jpg
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    stargalaxy wrote: »
    A gaffe? Au contraire, TehGrauniad. I wouldn't say that's what it was at all. Cleggover is many things - oppurtunistic, shameless, hungry for power - but he definitely isn't stupid. I'd say that this was quite intentional.

    Tony Blair is a man who is capable of making me feel sick simply by seeing his name. I feel queasy even writing this. He was a man who took the country into an illegal war on the basis of lies, put himself at risk of being called into court to answer for war crimes, and spent several years providing cover for Dubya when he was being attacked. I wondered at the time just why he was doing all of this - I need not have bothered. Like everything else, Blair - and his hideous wife - are motivated solely by money. Hence why Blair is now worth at least £20million, and that's just the wealth that we know about.

    By rights, this cunt should be in jail. Not in an ordinary jail either, but one of those nasty Russian ones, spending every waking moment of his life terrifed that his card is marked. If Cleggy's "gaffe" helps bring this about, I'd be prepared to give the man an awful lot of credit indeed.

    tony-blair.jpg

    Well SG ...my first reaction was to think ...he can't have said such a thing in such a situation without knowing that every word he said ...especially on his first time out as stand in ...would be scrutinised and picked over.
    These people are not that stupid.
    Would he use such explosive stuff in an attempt to try and bring back some of his once loyal followers who are deserting him in droves?
    Dangerous and very controversial move if so.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Why did the British government just say the war is illegal?
    Where does that put us in international law?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Would he use such explosive stuff in an attempt to try and bring back some of his once loyal followers who are deserting him in droves? Dangerous and very controversial move if so.
    You mean he said it in order to get LibDems uneasy about the coalition back on side?

    You may just be right.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    stargalaxy wrote: »
    You mean he said it in order to get LibDems uneasy about the coalition back on side?

    You may just be right.

    Dangerous though wouldn't you think?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    stargalaxy wrote: »
    You mean he said it in order to get LibDems uneasy about the coalition back on side?

    You may just be right.

    Nah, too cynical. I think it was stating his party's view rather than a Govt position. I'm not sure he realised the implications of what he has said.

    However, we now seem to have a member of Her Majesty's Cabinet saying that the Govt believe the war in Iraq to have been illegal. Oops.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    MoK wrote: »
    Nah, too cynical. I think it was stating his party's view rather than a Govt position. I'm not sure he realised the implications of what he has said.

    However, we now seem to have a member of Her Majesty's Cabinet saying that the Govt believe the war in Iraq to have been illegal. Oops.

    It was his first time doing stand up for his master.
    He knew damn well that every word he said would be picked over ...body language interpreted etc.
    He can't do that routine as second in command of the government and then say ...no I was being first in command of the Liberal party at that moment then revert back to being second in command of the government.

    Neither can he state his personal views whilst standing at the dispatch box speaking for the government.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    He's reminding voters that the Tories and Liberals are two parties.

    His comment has no legal meaning, otherwise it would have been Government policy that Gordon Brown saved the world and we'd have all had to bow as he passed and call him messiah.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It was his first time doing stand up for his master.
    He knew damn well that every word he said would be picked over ...body language interpreted etc.
    He can't do that routine as second in command of the government and then say ...no I was being first in command of the Liberal party at that moment then revert back to being second in command of the government.

    Neither can he state his personal views whilst standing at the dispatch box speaking for the government.

    I think you're giving him too much credit. Politicians are people, more importantly they're attention whores, which means that they sometimes act in an overly dramatic fashion without necessarily realizing the consequences of their actions. He was likely speaking his party platform.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think you're giving him too much credit. Politicians are people, more importantly they're attention whores, which means that they sometimes act in an overly dramatic fashion without necessarily realizing the consequences of their actions. He was likely speaking his party platform.

    I can go with that but there are now an army of lawyers around the world working on what was said by ...HM Government at the dispatch box in the house ....for good reason.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I can go with that but there are now an army of lawyers around the world working on what was said by ...HM Government at the dispatch box in the house ....for good reason.

    yeah, sometimes events like that serve as the impetus for major events. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    yeah, sometimes events like that serve as the impetus for major events. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

    I'd like to think Tony Blair is now growing a beard as fast as possible and is planning his escape from capture ...paranoid ...relying on drink ...getting desperate but ...I'm sure I'll be disapointed and some how they'll manage to sweep it under our consciousness .
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Dangerous though wouldn't you think?
    Yes, but then again, we are talking about the man who sold the LibDems down the river because he fancied sucking on Prime Ministerial dick. If the last few months prove only one thing, it's that.
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