Ex-minister accuses Blair of lying over Iraq invasion

FORMER British cabinet minister Clare Short yesterday accused Tony Blair of lying over the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and said she believed the government’s chief lawyer at the time had misled the cabinet over its legality.

Short, a long-time Blair critic and then International Development Secretary, disputed evidence the former prime minster gave last week to an inquiry into the war, saying he had sidelined the cabinet and kept ministers in the dark.

Discussions were limited and there was a “block on communications”, said Short, who voted in favour of the 2003 invasion but quit the government shortly afterwards because Blair had “conned” her about the UN having a lead role.