In the meantime I wanted to share with you some correspondence passed on to me by my friend Guy. He recently wrote to his (conservative) MP in support of the 'Impeach Tony Blair' campaign. His letter went as follows:
Sir John,
I moved into Tonbridge this time last year, and must confess I know nothing about you or your policies other than you are Conservative. Having duly confessed, I feel I must write to you now, of a matter of great importance.
I suspect you must have a stock answer for this subject, since it concerns the campaign to impeach Tony Blair. I realise most MPs think this campaign is crackers, and I do understand why. However, on balance it seems to me that the preservation of democracy is more important than the seemingly-cheeky exploitation of old laws and loopholes. And I realise that sounds terribly melodramatic, but please allow me a few words to explain why I chose those words.
I don't know what your opinion of the Iraq war was / is, but it seems to be beyond question that there are enough concerns surrounding it for a proper parliamentary process to begin. The tired Blair refrain of "four enquires already" simply doesn't wash, since none have been independent AND had a frame of reference to ask the questions that need to be asked. I think those questions are included in the report prepared by the impeachment campaigners, called "A Case To Answer", of which you are no doubt at least aware. There is no possibility of these questions ever being answered with current parliamentary procedures, which exclude the possibility of debating a possible untruth. If a person is not compelled to resign following a misdemeanour, then democracy must perish, since there is no accountability other than the ballot box. This to us is wholly unsatisfactory, not least because there would be no inquiry into the matter whatever the outcome, and the public would never be formally informed of the alleged crimes.
I would very much like you to read this report. About half the country now require answers at the last count, and parliament appears to be arrogantly dismissing us. If you do not support the campaign to impeach, I would be very interested to hear your reasons why, but I do hope "it's such an old procedure" isn't one of them!
Finally, I should add I have never been within a million miles of voting Conservative in my whole life. But if your party had the guts to at least examine what has amounted to an extraordinary collection of lies, it could sway not only my own heartfelt prejudices, but those of a great deal more.
Adam Curtis' BBC documentary The Power Of Nightmares, has suggested the world is currently "imagining the worst consequences of an enemy that doesn't exist". There are a lot of us who would rather like someone to look into this.
Yours Sincerely,
GUY ROWLAND
To his surprise, the reply went as follows:
May I welcome you to Tonbridge and Malling. I hope you are pleased with your move here.
I share your concerns about many aspects of the war in Iraq and you may like to have a copy of the Hansard of my latest speech in the House of Commons on November 4 on this subject in which I argued as to why I believe the invasion of Iraq has made the world less safe.
As a member of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, I have necessarily had to spend a very great deal of time scrutinising the Government's policy towards Iraq both before the invasion and since. As you mention Mr Blair's refrain of "four inquiries already" and as one of those was the Foreign Affairs Committee's inquiry, I should like to state something that Mr Blair always omits which is that I and my two other Conservative colleagues on the Committee voted against the Foreign Affairs Committee's inquiry report which reflects the views of the Labour majority on the Committee.
Following the war, as it became increasingly and then conclusively, apparent that Britain had been taken to war on the basis of a totally false prospectus. I have made several calls in the House of Commons for the Prime Minister to consider resignation.
I am putting your impeachment proposal directly to Mr Blair and I will write to you again when I receive his reply.
Yours sincerely,
John Stanley
Well, how about that then. Imagine - a Conservative MP with a conscience who seeks to serve the people. Whatever next?
So off you go to http://www.impeachblair.org to join in the fun...
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