Clarke: Iraq has made Britain more dangerous
Britain is a more dangerous place following the “disastrous” decision to invade Iraq, according to former home secretary Kenneth Clarke.
In a direct attack on the prime minister’s declaration that the July 7th London bombings were nothing to do with Iraq, Mr Clarke said the invasion had made Britain “one of the foremost targets for Islamic extremists”.
He also identified Britain’s relationship with the Muslim community as one of the biggest problems that British governments were going to have to face for many years to come.
The Tory leadership hopeful chose Iraq and terrorism as the subject of his first speech since declaring plans to stand for election.
His opposition to the Iraq war marks him out from other Conservatives. He has already described the situation in the country as a “dreadful mess” and was one of the few Tory MPs to vote against it
Today, Mr Clarke said that unlike “leftist critics” he believed it would be “immoral” to walk away from Iraq, but that the “catastrophic error” of putting troops in Iraq must be avoided in future.
And he insisted on the link between Iraq and the recent London terror attacks, saying: “If the prime minister really believes it, he must be the only person left who thinks that the recent bombs in London had no connection at all with his policy in Iraq.”
The former chancellor was also critical of the government’s plans for further anti-terrorist legislation in the wake of such attacks, insisting that “we do not lack terrorist laws”.
“I do not believe that the recent London bombs were the result of any deficiencies in our legal system,” he said.
On Britain’s relationship with America, while describing himself as an Atlanticist, Mr Clarke said Britain should be a “candid friend” because US presidents were not always right.
The leadership campaign has moved up a gear with Mr Clarke’s announcement on Tuesday night that he would be standing, and Sir Malcolm Rifkind’s announcement of his leadership team on Wednesday.
Earlier, Mr Clarke, who will have to beat off a stiff challenge from David Cameron to take on David Davis, dismissed claims he was too old to stand for the leadership of his party.
Should he win the leadership crown, Mr Clarke would be 70 by the next general election in around five years’ time.
But the 65-year old said it was “absurd” to claim he had passed his sell-by date.
“In most political systems I am of the age when people tend to be in office,” he told the BBC.
“The Conservative party needs to be made to look like a credible, alternative government in waiting that is ready to go. I just happen to think that I now fit the bill to do that,” Mr Clarke said.
Mr Clarke also said he would work to “demolish” Gordon Brown’s eight-year record as chancellor of the exchequer and restore the Tories’ reputation as the guardian of economic stability.
The Conservatives will hold their leadership election after the party conference this year.
Read profiles of the Tory leadership candidates.
