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Kennedy demands apology from PM

Ben Russell
Tuesday 20 July 2004 19:00 EDT
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Charles Kennedy yesterday demanded a public apology from Tony Blair as he said he was ashamed at the "litany of failings and political misjudgements" in the run-up to war.

Charles Kennedy yesterday demanded a public apology from Tony Blair as he said he was ashamed at the "litany of failings and political misjudgements" in the run-up to war.

Mr Kennedy told Mr Blair there had been a profound loss of political trust in the Prime Minister and his Government. "We believe that those all-important political judgements were wrong ... and that the case for war was fatally flawed."

In a performance free from the heckling which confronted Michael Howard, he said: "I don't think he quite gets it; what the people in the country think about all of this. He's got to demonstrate genuine contrition for the misjudgements over which he has presided which undoubtedly have taken place.

"The public have to have some sense of confidence restored in the process of government and the lessons to be learned from [these] events."

He added: "In his statement last week the Prime Minister spoke of his pride over what has been achieved in Iraq. We can all feel pride in the courage and professionalism of our armed forces. But we don't feel pride, in what they were instructed to do at the behest of the Government and increasingly not in the name of our country.

"And I do hope that when he reflects on all of this, the Prime Minister might acknowledge a sense of personal shame."

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