It has emerged that the attempt to rehabilitate the profoundly discredited Tony Blair into some connection with formal British political life has now caused a year’s delay to the final report of the Chilcot Inquiry into the UK’s involvement with the war in Iraq.
Whitehall officials, led by former Cabinet Secretary, Gus O’Donnell, a lynchpin of the Blair administrations, are refusing to cooperate with the Inquiry’s will to publish the texts of private communications from Blair to the then US President, George W Bush.
The excuse given is that publication would damage relations between Britain and the USA.
This is an unlikely eventuality since, under Blair, we did as we were told which is all that was required of us.
The communications in question are all but certain to provide evidence for what has been verbally asserted by those in the know at the time – that Blair had privately committed the UK to go into Iraq with the Americans well in advance of any question being put to the House of Commons.
How would this confirmation possibly discommode the USA, whose will would be seen as prevailing?
It would, though, give ease to the multitude who belatedly saw through the simian grin of the man who marched to the percussion of the cash register.
Sir John Chilcot has made the problem known to the Prime Minister, in writing.
If democracy means anything, David Cameron must order the release for publication of any and all the papers the Chilcot Inquiry know they need to publish if the outcome of the Inquiry – should it come while we remember it once happened - is to have any credence.