Iraq War was mistake, Lord Falconer says

UK forces should not have gone into Iraq in 2003, according to Lord Falconer, one of Tony Blair's closest allies during the build-up to war.

The former Lord Chancellor told the BBC: "We didn't find weapons of mass destruction there and that was the basis by which we went in.

"So on that basis, we weren't right to go in."

The existence of chemical and biological agents in Iraq had been a key justification for the invasion.

Lord Falconer shared a flat with former prime minister Tony Blair during their time as young barristers in the 1970s and was a close friend and confidant, as well as a minister, during his time in government.

The former Labour government minister, who was born in Edinburgh and went to the private Glenalmond College in Perthshire, told a BBC Scotland programme on the Fall of Labour in Scotland: "I think the Iraq war damaged Labour everywhere, and I think that the Iraq war is perceived to be a mistake."

'Do some damage'

Lord Falconer was asked by whom it was thought that the Iraq war was a mistake.

He said: "By Labour, by Tony Blair. That damaged Labour right throughout Scotland and England, but I'm not sure that it necessarily damaged Labour more in Scotland than it did in England."

Asked whether, in retrospect, he and Mr Blair regarded it as a mistake, Lord Falconer said: "Well, what I'm saying is, it did do us some damage. I supported the invasion.

"We didn't find weapons of mass destruction there and that was the basis by which we went in. so on that basis, we weren't right to go in."

A dossier of evidence produced before the invasion, in September 2002, declared intelligence had established "beyond doubt" that Iraq's leader Saddam Hussein had continued to produce chemical and biological weapons and was making efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

It also claimed Iraq could deploy biological weapons within 45 minutes of an order to do so.

The claims of the dossier and a later document making similar claims were called into question when weapons of mass destruction (WMD) were not found in Iraq.

The invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a deeply divisive move.

Weeks before the invasion hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of the UK in protest against the proposed war.

Police said the London march was the UK's biggest ever demonstration with at least 750,000 taking part, although organisers put the figure closer to two million.

The Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq invasion was set up in 2009 and finished hearing evidence more than four years ago.

It has still not produced its report.

An earlier review by Lord Butler said key intelligence used to justify war with Iraq had been shown to be unreliable.

BBC Scotland Investigates: The Fall of Labour is on BBC One Scotland at 21:00 on Monday 22 June.