Thorpe Blasts Blair And Howard Over Iraq

Jeremy Thorpe, Liberal leader from 1967 to 1979, has angrily criticised both Blair and Howard over Iraq. "In agreement, like Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Mr Blair and Mr Howard have jettisoned the argument of the existence of weapons of mass destruction as the justification of going to war with Iraq. Both have conceded that even if they had known that the intelligence report was inadequate they would still have taken military action. The political outcome has been disastrous. Every Labour and Tory candidate should be asked to vote against any use of force unless authorised by a United Nations resolution or where the security of the UK is threatened or where British citizens are at risk on foreign soil.

"The Liberal Democrats subscribe to the... considerations. Labour and Tory candidates should be challenged to do likewise." Mr Thorpe, who will be in Devon for the closing stages of the campaign, said he believed Labour support was "haemorrhaging" and that the Tories had made "no impact" on voters. - BBC