As the Iraq enquiry continues in Great Smith Street the political big hitters are finally facing the public questioning. Controversy has been growing however about the non-appearance of Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

At the start of the enquiry its chairman, Sir John Chilcott, stated that the enquiry would stay firmly away from the arena of party politics and that hearings would not be held in the run up to a General Election. Last year the enquiry committee confirmed that neither Mr Brown nor any of his current cabinet would be called to give evidence prior to the election.

This stance, intented to ensure that the enquiry remained politically neutral, has instead proved to be politically divisive, with the Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Scottish Nationalist parties all condemning the ruling. The leader of the SNP in Westminster, Angus Robertson MP, was particularly hard hitting in his condemnation, claiming that Gordon Brown had much to answer for as he had agreed to “an illegal and immoral invasion” but had not provided troops with the resources and equipment that they needed.

At first it seemed that Mr Brown was happy to wait until after the election to appear before the enquiry. With his personal popularity at a nadir and a struggle to pull back the Conservative Party lead in the opinion polls the last thing that he wanted to do, with the election looming ever closer, was to remind the public of his vital role in the unpopular war in Iraq. Mr Brown seems to have cultivated the idea that then PM Tony Blair had been the prime mover behind the decision to go to war but recent evidence to the enquiry seems to implicate Brown in a way that a jittery Labour Party will find disquieting.

The recent evidence given by two very high profile figures, former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and spin doctor-in-chief Alistair Campbell, has planted Gordon Brown firmly at the front of the decision making process and the upcoming appearance of former Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith may prove to be equally problematic for the PM. Former Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, a staunch Blair supporter who recently called for Brown to step down as party leader, further sullied Brown’s reputation by stating to Chilcott that Brown, when Chancellor of the Exchequer, had for many years been responsible for the underfunding of the armed forces.

With pressure from all political sides, and with the public perception being that Brown is not appearing at the enquiry because he has something to hide, Gordon Brown has now written to the enquiry to state that he is happy to appear whenever the panel wanted. This surprise move has led to the enquiry committee stating that he will appear before them within two months.

Undoubtedly this is a damage limitation exercise on the Prime Minister’s part but with Tony Blair himself due to appear imminently the political heat is turning up, and the eyes of the world will be focused on Brown when he makes his feverishly anticipated appearance. Brown is never an assured and flowing public speaker and with his popularity showing no signs of recovery this could be a very risky strategy from Downing Street. We shall soon see whether this will be Gordon Brown’s finest hour or the final blow to his chances of being elected returning Prime Minister.

Final thing I have a little and rather surprising favor to ask you guys. A close friend of mine is employeed by a theatre and needs a set of shutters for this play that is beginning next month. If anyone has any for free please give me a call.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 8:55 am and is filed under 1. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.