Tony Blair’s irritation and frustration at being told that going to war in Iraq would be illegal have been made public with the unprecedented release of top secret Government documents.
On one note, written six weeks before the March 2003 invasion, the then-prime minister scrawled “I just do not understand this” alongside a warning from Lord Goldsmith, the attorney general, that military force would be illegal without a fresh United Nations resolution.
In separate handwriting at the top of the note, a No 10 aide wrote: “specifically said we did not need further advice [on] this matter.” The document is one of a number which were declassified by the Government showing that in the run up to the war, Lord Goldsmith was repeatedly told that his formal advice about the legality of an invasion was not welcome.
He had expressed reservations about the legal justification for a military conflict without the support of the UN for months before changing his mind on the eve of the war after flying to the United States to discuss the matter with officials working for President George W Bush.
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