- Tony Blair, on the eve of his tenth anniversary as leader
of the Labour Party, echoed one of the most famous quotations from Lady
Thatcher yesterday by telling critics of the war in Iraq to "rejoice".
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- Lady Thatcher told Britain to "Just rejoice... rejoice"
when British forces recaptured South Georgia on 25 April 1982. She was
under pressurefor allowing the Falkland Islands to be invaded by Argentina.
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- Mr Blair's use of the word "rejoice" - loaded
with all the defiance that Lady Thatcher had given it - made Labour backbenchers
wince during the Commons debate on the Butler report. "We couldn't
believe it when he said that," said one Labour MP. "We shouted
'Thatcher' at him."
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- Mr Blair immediately recognised the gaffe, and quickly
added: "Yes - let us be pleased."
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- A former whip, loyal to Mr Blair, said: "Rejoice
is a word that we will have to wipe from the dictionary. I was appalled
he used it."
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- But the damage was done. Alice Mahon, one of 41 MPs of
all parties who staged a token protest vote against the Government on Iraq
last night, said: "I don't know how he could say 'rejoice' when thousands
of lives have been lost. They never counted the number of Iraqis who died,
but how can he say rejoice? It is an insult to those who have died."
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- Alan Simpson, another leftwing Labour MP who campaigned
against the war, said: "The only one who will rejoice with Tony Blair
is Osama bin Laden."
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- Mr Blair painted a rosy picture of life after Saddam
Hussein in Iraq, completely at odds with many eye-witness accounts of the
Iraqi people's suffering.
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- Declaring "the blessings from the fall of Saddam
are great," Mr Blair spoke of the 35 local elections in Iraq; the
doubling of public-sector salaries; and schools and hospitals which were
now open. "Removing Saddam was not a war crime. It was an act of liberation
for the Iraqi people," he said. "My view is whatever mistakes
have been made, rejoice that Iraq can have such a future."
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- He was immediately criticised by opposition MPs. Charles
Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader said: "He still doesn't get it.
He does not know that he has got to show genuine contrition." Tam
Dalyell, the Father of the House, called for Mr Blair to resign. Robin
Cook, who resigned from the Cabinet over the issue, said the invasion of
Iraq had created the conditions in which al-Qa'ida was "thriving".
Michael Howard, the Conservative leader, said: "Why is it that for
this Prime Minister, sorry seems to be the hardest word?"
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- The Prime Minister's denial that he lied over the war
was under fresh scrutiny last night after Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary,
admitted he knew in September last year that two pieces of intelligence
about Saddam's chemical and biological weapons had been withdrawn by MI6.
Downing Street insisted that the Prime Minister did not know the intelligence
had been withdrawn until the Butler inquiry was under way, but Mr Straw's
admission will raise fresh doubts about assurances from No 10. It will
also raise questions as to why no minister told the Hutton inquiry, and
it will fuel calls for the inquiry by the Foreign Affairs Committee to
be reopened today.
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- Admitting mistakes, Mr Blair announced four measures
to respond to criticism in the Butler report.
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- There will be an end to "Government by sofa"
- in a future crisis, Mr Blair will set up an ad hoc committee of the Cabinet
with proper minutes. William Ehrman, the new head of the Joint Intelligence
Committee, will be replaced in 2005 with an appointment of "someone
beyond influence" by ministers. Senior intelligence officers will
review the Butler report's findings and, finally, JIC assessments will
be kept separate from the Government's case in any future dossier.
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- CAUSE FOR REJOICING?
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- * British soldiers killed during Iraq war: 60
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- * British soldiers injured in the conflict: 2,200
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- * Iraqi soldiers killed: 6,370 (estimate)
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- * Iraqi civilians killed: 13,000 (estimate)
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- * Projected cost of reconstruction: £55bn
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- * UK cost of war: £3.2bn
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- * Annual cost of keeping UK troops in Iraq: £1.5bn
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- * Percentage of Iraqis who would feel safer if US and
UK troops left: 55
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- * Percentage of UK voters who believe Blair lied: 55
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- * Weapons of mass destruction found: 0
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- © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=543025
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