Iraq Inquiry: most popular questions for Blair

Tony Blair gives evidence to the Iraq Inquiry this Friday. Since we last blogged about what we want Blair asked at the Inquiry, thousands more of us have submitted our questions and the petition to Sir John Chilcot now has over 10,000 signatures. Earlier today, we went into central London to ask people which questions they wanted him to answer: you can see the responses we got on our video clip here.

With the pre-war period back in the news again, the questions are getting more focused. We want to know whether the need to keep war preparations a secret meant not enough planning was done in the run-up to the invasion. We also want to find out when Blair decided to go to war: had he already made commitments to the US before he went before Parliament? There’s also the question of what pressure was put on Lord Goldsmith, something the Attorney General’s appearance before the Inquiry on Thursday should help to answer.

But as we know, its not just about what questions we ask Blair. It’s also about how they’re asked. That’s why 10,000 of us have signed a petition asking the panel to get tough on the former PM. It’s also why 38 Degrees will be outside the Inquiry on Friday morning to make sure they do.

Here are our most popular questions for Blair:
Why weren’t the UN weapons inspectors allowed to finish their work?
When did you first promise George Bush you would back an invasion?
Why wasn’t more done to prepare for rebuilding Iraq after the invasion?
On what specific intelligence was the WMD claim based?
Lord Goldsmith changed his mind about the legality of going to war. What was your role in this?
What advice did you get from the Foreign Office about the effect invading Iraq might have on the region?
If regime change was the real reason for going to war, why weren’t you more open with the British public and parliament?
Why weren’t more of the Cabinet involved in the decision to go to war?
Why did you ignore the anti-war protests by the British people?