UK News 28-04-2005 Howard and Blair Go to War who: Michael Howard what: Says Tony Blair is a liar when: Wednesday snippet: With a week to go until polling day, the war in Iraq, and the wider issue of trust in the government, became the central focus of campaigning as new evidence came to light suggesting that Attorney General Lord Goldsmith was pressured into issuing his support for the war in March 2003, contrary to his own view of the nation`s legal position. On Wednesday, Channel Four News released an 800-word extract of a leaked document, dated March 7th 2003, which, says The Scotsman, "proves that Lord Goldsmith, the government`s top legal adviser, warned that it was impossible for him to make a watertight case for war". Ten days later, the Attorney General "published advice which gave a clear and unequivocal case for war". "Tony Blair claims his government has been open and straightforward on Iraq but every piece of information has been wrung out of them in the face of stiff resistance," was the response from Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, quoted in The Independent. "It took the death of David Kelly before we found out the truth behind the dodgy dossier and the infamous 45-minute claim. It is this Labour government which took the decision to send our troops to Iraq. It is they who must be held accountable." "The nature of these two documents is different in every sense," comments James Blitz of The Financial Times, referring to Lord Goldsmith`s apparent U-turn between March 7th and March 17th. "All told, Mr Blair has grounds to hope that this story will momentarily fly then die. Those who opposed Mr Blair over Iraq have made their minds up anyway. And a central problem for Mr Howard remains his trust ratings. They are not much better than Mr Blair`s - in fact in some polls they are worse." Nevertheless, The Scotsman says the Conservatives were probably behind the leak. "Iraq has undoubtedly been central to the Conservatives` strategy for the closing stages of the general election campaign," writes James Kirkup. "Simply, it acted as a sort of universal adaptor for political issues: every issue, every policy area, could be linked back to Mr Blair`s credibility over the decision to invade. This week`s election posters linking Mr Blair`s `lies` over Iraq to his entire approach to the campaign are the final evolution of that strategy." At the same time, campaigning has become particularly personal, with Mr Howard quoted calling Mr Blair a "liar" in The Times on Wednesday. "Labour says it will not be drawn on the personalised Tory attacks," says the BBC, "but its latest posters accuse Mr Howard of having a `hidden agenda` for NHS charges". "I have never told a lie," the Labour leader told Sky News. "No. I don`t intend to go telling lies to people. I did not lie over Iraq." "Let the Tories keep up their personal attacks on me," said Mr Blair, giving a speech at a school in Bolton. "I will keep setting out the policy choices that matter to the British people. Let them go negative, negative, negative. I will stay focused on education, education, education - yesterday, today and tomorrow." The Lib Dems managed a minor coup on Tuesday when Hackney South and Shoreditch MP Brian Sedgemore defected from Labour, decrying Mr Blair as the author of "stomach-turning lies" who had used the "politics of fear to drive through parliament a deeply authoritarian set of law and order measures". Although Mr Sedgemore has given up his seat and has, to say the least, never been a supporter of Tony Blair, it was the first headline-grabbing stunt of the Liberal Democrat campaign since Mr Kennedy`s wife, Sarah, gave birth to their son, Donald James on April 11th, and leaves the Party third place in the polls by a considerable margin. An NOP survey for The Independent, published on Tuesday, put Labour on 40% (up three), the Conservatives on 30% (down two) and Liberal Democrats unchanged on 21%. A poll in The Financial Times, published on Thursday, "showed Labour with a 10 percentage point lead over the opposition Conservative party when people were simply asked which party they supported. But when MORI asked the same question of people who said they were `absolutely certain` to vote, the lead contracted to just two points, with Labour getting 36 per cent of the vote and the Conservatives 34 per cent." Tuesday`s Mail accuses Mr Blair of "gross abuse of power" and, worse still, claims "this Prime Minister is capable of doing it all over again. For he has plainly learned nothing". But in The Mirror, Tony Parsons says we should vote Labour even though "we expect to be lied to by Tony Blair" because Michael Howard "was part of a callous, incompetent regime that had almost 20 years to make a difference". If you`re still undecided, The Times makes it, ahem, easy to choose. "If you want a Labour government, vote Liberal Democrat," says Simon Jenkins. "If you want a Conservative government, vote Labour. If you want a Liberal Democrat government, vote Tory. Recite that every morning for a week." [... more]

What The Papers Say is delivered to thousands of readers every morning by web, WAP and email. Sign up today!