Ministers fear Iraq backlash will lose Labour the election

[cal04]

Brown may pay political price for 'Blair's war' as Lib Dem ratings are boosted
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ministers-fear-iraq-backlash-will-lose-labour-the-election-1831092.html

Ministers fear the inquiry into the Iraq war will create a new public backlash that will harm the Labour Party's prospects at the general election.

Although Sir John Chilcot's investigation will not report until after the election, alarm bells are ringing in the Government that the evidence sessions, which began last week, will remind voters about the war and further undermine public trust in Labour.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq is widely seen as "Blair's war", and the former Prime Minister's evidence in the new year is expected to be the climax of the public hearings. Gordon Brown, who was then Chancellor, kept a relatively low profile over the conflict, but there are growing fears in Labour circles that he will pay a political price.

Labour strategists fear the pre-election hearings will boost the performance of the Liberal Democrats on polling day. They were the only one of the three main parties to oppose the war. "People are starting to wonder whether Gordon has done the right thing by allowing all this to come out before the election," one minister said. "Some voters who could not bring themselves to vote for us in 2005 because of Iraq might have been tempted back into the fold next year to stop the Tories winning. But now they are getting a daily reminder of why they turned against us."

[Joanne98]

1. NO! They fear DUBAI!