Delaying till after the election the Chilcot report on Iraq is good news for Labour

Delaying till after the election the Chilcot report on Iraq is good news for Labour

Reminding voters of the conflict not good for the red team

At PMQs today EdM opened by asserting that his party wants to Chilcot Inquire report to be published as soon as possible. Maybe but the he last thing, surely, that Labour wants in the run-up to May 7th is something to remind voters of the Iraq War although Ed has said that he personally was opposed. The war. it will be recalled, started almost 12 years ago.

LD leader, Nick Clegg, has probably most to gain from anything that reminds voters of the build up to the conflict and why the Blair government went ahead. The yellows, as we know, were most strongly opposed and much of their success at GE2005 in attracting LAB defectors can be attributed to that stance.

In the current political climate the biggest priority for the yellows is to retain LAB tactical voters of previous times – something that’s been particularly difficult because of the coalition.

The problem for Clegg is that it is hard to see how the current development about the inquiry can be sustained though I do like the “sexed down” phrase that the Lib Dem leader is using.

Mike Smithson

For 11 years viewing politics from OUTSIDE the Westminster bubble


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