Tony Blair’s defence minister Geoff Hoon has claimed Downing Street ordered him to burn a secret memo that said the Iraq war could be illegal.
The claims will be a blow to the former British prime minister’s reputation as Mr Hoon was a close personal and political ally.
The reputation of Mr Blair, one of the chief architects of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, has been thrown into the spotlight once again following the announcement that he is to be given a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II.
More than 690,000 people have signed an online petition opposing the move, with some saying that rather than being made a ‘Sir’ he should be prosecuted for war crimes.
Claims made by Mr Hoon in his memoir, which was published in November, have been seized upon after the campaign to “rescind” Mr Blair’s knighthood.
But the former prime minister still deserves his knighthood for the leadership shown during military campaigns before Iraq and securing peace in Northern Ireland, said one former army commander.
“Tony Blair was an international force for good in the Kosovo War and Sierra Leone,” said Brigadier Ben Barry. “I also wouldn't have lost any sleep if he had got a Nobel Peace Prize for the Northern Ireland peace agreement but the whole thing about Iraq was not just the decision to go to war but a lack of personal competence as prime minister from from 2003 to 2007.”
In his book, See How They Run, Mr Hoon details how the British government was assessing its own legal position to enable it to conduct an invasion because it lacked a second UN resolution which would have given it international authority to do so.
The task of compiling a memo on whether an invasion could legally be conducted fell to attorney general Lord Goldsmith, who produced a “very long and very detailed legal opinion that only sophisticated scholars of international law would understand”.
Mr Hoon said after reading the document, he concluded that Lord Goldsmith “had decided that invading Iraq would be lawful if the prime minister believed that it was in the UK's national interest to do so”.
“It was not exactly the ringing endorsement that the chief of the defence staff was looking for, and in any event, I was not strictly allowed to show it to him or even discuss it with him,” he added.
“Moreover, when my principal private secretary, Peter Watkins, called Jonathan Powell in Downing Street and asked what he should now do with the document, he was told in no uncertain terms that he should 'burn it'.”
Mr Powell has denied telling Mr Hoon to burn the legal advice, and Mr Blair has previously said such claims were “nonsense".
Mr Hoon served as defence secretary from 1999 to 2005 in Mr Blair's cabinet, who led the UK from 1997 to 2007.
The Iraq war which toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime was conducted on the premise that the dictator was harbouring weapons of mass destruction.
Mr Blair built a case for war, claiming such weapons could be used within 45 minutes.
It was later revealed that Lord Goldsmith had said the war could be illegal. However, just days before British soldiers set foot in the nation, he changed his mind and said it was legal.
The Chilcot Inquiry — which looked into the UK’s involvement in war — concluded in 2016 that the former prime minister had overplayed the “flawed” intelligence about the Iraqi leader’s arsenal and ignored peaceful means to resolve the issue.
It found that Saddam posed “no imminent threat” at the time of the invasion.
The lack of evidence of the early legal advice on the war’s legality was reflected by in the Chilcot paper. “No formal record was made of that decision, and the precise grounds on which it was made remains unclear,” his report stated.
If an original copy was destroyed this might have breached the Freedom of Information Act that requires all government departments to retain official advice and documents.
“If all the copies of that advice were destroyed that might be an offence but Mr Hoon wouldn't have been acting illegally if the records were still held by number 10 and the attorney general,” said Brig Barry.
Former British commander in Afghanistan Col Richard Kemp thought burning the memo giving legal advice might not be plausible action for a civil servant to follow.
“What happened to that original advice we will never know but in the end it was the right war to fight and in the end the advice was that it was a legal intervention.”
In her New Year’s Honours list, the queen appointed the former leader a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, the oldest and most senior British Order of Chivalry.
A Change.org petition against the decision has drawn support from nearly 700,000 people.
A statement on the website said: “Tony Blair caused irreparable damage to both the constitution of the United Kingdom and to the very fabric of the nation’s society.
“He was personally responsible for causing the death of countless innocent, civilian lives and servicemen in various conflicts. For this alone he should be held accountable for war crimes.
“Tony Blair is the least deserving person of any public honour, particularly anything awarded by Her Majesty the Queen.
“We petition the prime minister to petition Her Majesty to have this honour removed.”
Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, John Oliver
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
RACE CARD AND SELECTIONS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,200m
5,30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,200m
6pm: The President’s Cup Listed (TB) Dh380,000 1,400m
6.30pm: The President’s Cup Group One (PA) Dh2,500,000 2,200m
7pm: Arabian Triple Crown Listed (PA) Dh230,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
The National selections
5pm: RB Hot Spot
5.30pm: Dahess D’Arabie
6pm: Taamol
6.30pm: Rmmas
7pm: RB Seqondtonone
7.30pm: AF Mouthirah
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
More on Quran memorisation:
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U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
Saturday 15 January: v Canada
Thursday 20 January: v England
Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly, Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya Shetty, Kai Smith
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THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
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Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
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Moonfall
Director: Rolan Emmerich
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry
Rating: 3/5
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The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Keita 5', Firmino 26'
Porto 0
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Racecard
5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
7pm: The President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m
7.30pm: The President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'The Ice Road'
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
EXPATS
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UAE v Zimbabwe A, 50 over series
Fixtures
Thursday, Nov 9 - 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 11 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Monday, Nov 13 – 2pm, Dubai International Stadium
Thursday, Nov 16 – 2pm, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 18 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
