Short Demands Inquiry into Iraq Advice

Ex-Cabinet minister Clare Short tonight demanded a Parliamentary probe into the Attorney General’s advice on war with Iraq.Ms Short said Lord Goldsmith breached the ministerial code by submitting a summary of his advice to senior ministers.

Two of Tony Blair’s key allies were involved in drafting a ministerial answer issued in the peer’s name, according to a leak. Ms Short said it was this that had earlier been shown to the Cabinet as it contemplated military action.

“It says in the ministerial code that if any advice from the law officers is summarised when it comes to Cabinet the full advice should be attached,” she told BBC Radio 4’s World Tonight.

“My view is we need the House of Lords to set up a special committee, summon the Attorney, get all the papers out, look at exactly what happened.“This is very, very serious for all our constitutional arrangements and we need to get to the bottom of it.”

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