PM makes the most of the Iraq inquiry

THERE is nothing quite like jumping from the frying pan into the fire and, after his under-whelming appearance at the Iraq inquiry, Gordon Brown decided to pop up in Afghanistan the very next day.

Despite protestations to the contrary by his media machine, few will regard it as anything other than a cynical political attempt to cash in on whatever he felt he might have gained from his evidence to the Chilcot inquiry.

And, with an election possibly just weeks away, what better time to try to mould his new image as the soldier’s friend? He swept on to Afghanistan with officials letting it be known that 200 new, and more heavily-protected patrol vehicles, were on their way, but even that became bogged down by claims yesterday that the figure had originally supposed to be 400. This again fuelled accusations that Mr Brown and the government had never fully resourced operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr Brown had been self-assured and on top of his brief during his appearance at the inquiry on Friday, surprising everyone by claiming repeatedly that he always supported any pleas for help from the military. He was accused of being disingenuous the next day by senior Army figures and somewhat economical with the facts. Mr Brown had learned from the mistakes of Tony Blair at his earlier appearance, but both succeeded in manipulating the inquiry to their own agenda by dancing around the questions.

It makes one wonder what the inquiry can hope to achieve as most of the really difficult questions and telling points have been posed outside, rather than inside, the inquiry.