All quiet on the Chilcot front

AndyinBrum

Your iPhone's camera appears to be better than mine.

The photo reminds me of the Father Ted episode where Ted & Dougal are protesting outside the cinema

Liz Brown

Frankly, I could care less about the Chilcott Inquiry - it tells us noting we didn't know already - it has as many teeth as a new born babe and is costing us all a small fortune for absolutely bugger all

KG Barrett

So far, it's been about as gripping as an interview with Hello magazine.

Michael Booth

Brown is asked a question - Brown ignores it and gives the answer he wants to give - no follow up to original question, it just moves on.
Yep, just as predicted.

Richard

@Liz

I am in total agreement with you.
The only people its serves are those who wont or cant listen anyway....not one person has a different opinion now than they held before.

EyeSee

What a surprise that 'Brown has managed....'. Up until recently Brown was the Chencellor and despite being the second most powerful man in Cabinet he never appeared to have an opinion on anything. Can't catch him out. What is clear and will probably elude Chilcot, who seems to only ask about minor procedural matters and what biscuits there were at what meetings, is that Brown was directly responsible for the equipment shortages and lack of helicopters in theatre. Chilcot should start there and concentrate on ascertaining if his actions were criminal. After deep interogation by Chilcot, I expect he will be recommended for a medal having convinced the committee that he is personally responsible for defeating the Taliban.

Frank P

It's not even a travesty any more it's just a highly costly formality under the CYA Principle.

After his use of the phrase 'New World Order' on at least two occasions,I lost the will to live; then his talk of 'future decisions' in the first person context, indicated he has obviously convinced himself that no only will 'the project' continue after May, but also that he will still be at the head of it.

Brown's deluded arrogance would be utterly insufferable were it not for the fact that he is quite clearly sectionable.

As for the stuffed dummies asking the questions? They remind of the dock briefs at Bow Street circa 1954, earning a daily crust to give the illusion of 'justice being seen to be done'.

All that the costly exercise achieves is to demonstrate to foreign interests. inimical to Britain, that we have descended into a state of terminal weakness as a nation with a farcical government and a barking, unelected Prime Minister. Will the last person to leave please put out the lights - always supposing that the National Grid hasn't already been closed down through the dry up of energy - switched off by our foreign enemies whose hands now control to valves. You'll not I had to qualify 'enemies' with the word foreign, as there are as many indigenous ones as extraterritorial ones now, thanks to this administration.

Cameron - if you cannot exploit this to the benefit of Conservatism (assuming that you are interested in so doing), then FFS join the dole queue and let someone else have a go.

Apparently Gargoyle Brown will meet families of fallen soldiers in the lunch break for a spot of electioneering. Would anyone blame any of them if they decided take the law into their own hands?

Dimoto

Off topic, but IMPORTANT.
My wife is on the panel of the YouGov poll.
(she tells me) she votes Conservative.
For the past week or more she has been unable to vote/access the site.
Today she found another way in.
The poll qustions are ludicrous, every one leading and playing to a Labour agenda.
This filth will subvert any organ or media to spread their propaganda.
WHY ARE THE TORIES TOTALLY UNABLE/UNWILLING TO CHALLENGE THIS NONSENSE !?

Frank P

And another thing ... will you please remove that merging portraits melange from the Schools Conference advert from the left hand margin of this blog; the moving element drags the eye towards it and their individual ugliness is bad enough to behold accidentally, without having a moving melding image thrust upon our consciousness.
It is nauseating - and a terrible distraction from the business in hand.

wrinkled weasel

Didn't the coppers come over and give you the "no photographs sonny" routine?

It was a smart move for Brown to allow this inquiry in the first place, since he is still in a position to exert control over its terms of reference.

Is it not the case that if Gordon Brown were to announce irrefutable proof of life on Mars, most people would either not be listening or would not believe him?

I watched it for about five minutes, knowing in my heart that, unless he pees himself, this is not going to make two lines in the Bromsgrove Examiner.

We are all bored with this. Not that I am any the less angry about Iraq, but that this government has effectively closed down the debate, by keeping papers secret, by denying, by obfuscation and by mercilessly pursuing those who get on their wrong side. The only people who could really shed light on this are dead. Otherwise, all of these get-togethers have been a waste of time and money and a travesty of justice and truth.

GDT

@ Michael Booth 12:08pm
Kind of similiar to PMQs - people ask questions, Brown ignores it and gives the answer he wants to give. It never ceases to amaze me how he manages to get away with it.

The Bellman

As everyone knows, we fought in Iraq, like we're fighting in Afghanistan, to protect our liberty at home.

All the same, I hope you had permission to take the picture of the policemen.

AAE

So you weren't questioned as a suspected terrorist then? Well that was very decent of Plod, especially given Melanie's latest post. Now this is off topic I know, but as you are often in the area, how come the ghastly "peace camp" in Parliament Square is permitted? If you or I tried to pitch a tent, I doubt we'd get as far as tightening the guy ropes. Any explanation anyone?

Tankus

I must have been totally mistaken Iraq was just and correct , Basra was an utter success, which is why we have left , after doing such a successful job .
Thank god we had Gordon at the helm.

Battle 2807

Brown's modus operandi is to bore everyone to death, and it certainly seems to be working this time. I managed to watch about 5 minutes, but just could'nt bear any more.

TrevorsDen

I see Brown has told the Chilcott enquiry that he cut the defence budget to stop public spending 'spiralling out of control'.

Well this at lest demonstrates that Brown has mastered satire.

Ajax Harington

Brown should have looked to his history...

http://tinyurl.com/yhopwk6

Innocent bystander

The Bellman @ 1.57 p.m.

You sum it up precisely in 4 or 5 lines.

John

Dimoto

You're right. I've just completed the latest YouGov poll, and have protested to them about two loaded questions.

emil

Dimito

I haven't been been invited to participate in a yougov poll for weeks, which is defeating their objective for I would lie and tell them that I would vote Labour, hoping that like minded individuals would tempt him to get out of our lives even sooner.

Dorothy Wilson

I've been out most of the day but from the extracts of Brown "performance" at Chilcott that I've heard his answers can be summed up as: "Not me Guv". So what's new?

Gawain

Having now seen extracts of Brown's evidence to the Chilcot enquiry what struck me most is what a dour, introverted and small minded bookkeeper he is. He only became enervated when discussing battles over budget spreadsheets. We couldn't allow the Ministry of Defence to get away with their interpretation of efficiency savings, apparently. In other words, winning a war with the fewest number of casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan was less important than winning a piffling bureaucratic scrap over budgets in Whitehall !!

Rick Hamilton

What a waste of time. Brown is incapable of listening to a question, let alone answering it. It's the same at PMQs, in TV interviews, anywhere. The man just ignores what is asked and spouts a few minutes of prepackaged verbiage until the questioner gives up. The electorate will be giving up on him and his ghastly government very soon, so just ignore the pest until he goes away.

De Rigueur

And today he's off visiting the troops in Afghanistan.

Is there no depth to which that lying, greasy-haired, nail-biting, saddle-sniffing cnut sink to?

Sacre Bleu

De Rigeur, the answer is NO. This man has the ability to sink to depths lower than a snakes belly, a place with which he should be very familiar

True Blue

Don't cheer too loudly my friend. Democracy implies a willingness to be governed, an exchange of responsibilities. It is a pact, an agreement of the people to confirm authority upon those it is able to chose from. If those submitting to authority feel they have no choice in the matter, the result is typically revolution. The master needs the respect of the servant to govern at all. It is a deal. An exchange of responsibility. This may yet end badly, but I suspect it will take some time.