Iraq War Inquiry: T.B. "had gleam in his eye"

Tony Blair had gleam in his eye as war approached, Iraq inquiry told

Cabinet ministers kept in the dark until it was too late to stop the invasion of Iraq, according to top civil servants

25 January 2011 - Tony Blair had a worrying "gleam in his eye" as military action against Iraq became more likely, while the cabinet was kept in the dark until it was too late to object, the Chilcot inquiry heard today.

Two former cabinet secretaries – the country's most senior civil servants – mounted a devastating critique of the way Blair handled the run-up to war. The cabinet were trapped in a position where they had to agree to attack Iraq or bring down the prime minister, the inquiry heard.

Today's witnesses disputed Blair's claim to the inquiry last Friday that cabinet ministers might not have seen official papers but would have known about plans from the media. "None of those key [Whitehall] papers were presented to the cabinet so I do not accept the former prime minister's claim they knew the score ... That isn't borne out by what actually happened," said Lord Turnbull, then cabinet secretary.

Lord Wilson, his predecessor, told the inquiry that if asked whether there were "proper cabinet" decisions in the run-up to war, he would say "emphatically not". {continued}