No apology from Tony Blair: What a surprise!

I suppose it was too much to hope that we would have contrition from former Prime Minister Tony Blair over the invasion of Iraq.
Blair stuck to his story at the Chilcot inquiry yesterday - that he had not a regret about what turned out to be the disastrous invasion of Iraq and the toppling of Saddam Hussein. There were no weapons of mass destruction.
Blair is undoubtedly an excellent performer in front of the cameras despite obvious nervousness at the start of his evidence.
What is clear though was that he was determined to send British ground troops into action - even rejecting a last-minute offer of a way out from the Americans.
His appearance was never going to lead to an apology from Blair for getting the UK into such a mess. He's not that type of politician - he's someone who always believes he's right despite the clear evidence to the contrary on Iraq.
But what was disgusting was that he did not talk to the families who lost loved one's in action - even through his evidence.
He should have showed compassion. He didn't and his premiership will always be tainted by Iraq - and many positive policies brought in by Labour such as the introduction of the minimum wage will be over-shadowed by his disastrous foreign policy failings.

Brown bows to pressure over Iraq inquiry

Gordon Brown will give evidence to the Iraq Inquiry before the general election - and so he should.
It had looked like an attempt by Labour to bury bad news until after voters go to the poll.
But the Prime Minister, who held the purse-strings when the Iraq war was launched, is clearly calculating that it is better to get it over as soon as possible rather than have the issue raised in the general election campaign by political opponents.
More important than Gordon Brown's appearance is that the people of the UK get some answers. Let us hope the inquiry members will get stuck in with some tough questions - not just about the war but the preparedness of British troops in terms of equipment. As disgraced US President Richard Nixon declared: "There can be no whitewash at the White House". Substitute 10 Downing Street.
Meanwhile, before the current PM appears Tony Blair, the man who sent British troops to war, will appear. Roll on Friday, January 29.