So did Mr Blair lie? That would depend on your definition of a lie. If you define a lie as stating something is X when you know it to be not X, then you will find it hard to prove that Blair lied. If, however, you define a lie as giving the impression that something is certainly X when you know that there is a possibility that it might not be X, then you’ve got Blair bang to rights.
Where it gets really confusing is when a lie in the second degree is entered into because the second degree liar accepts a first degree lie propagated by others who now accuse the second degree liar of lying.
An example of a second degree lie is to give the impression that going to war is certainly legal under international law when you know there is possibility that it might not be (and have received legal advice to that effect). An example of a first degree lie is stating that international law is a morally valid basis on which a decision over going to war should be subject when you know that this cannot possibly be the case.
Are we to suppose that going to war would have been OK if only France, Russia and China had voted the other way on the infamous second resolution? What if France had voted with its fellow democracies and Russia and China had voted against? Are the butchers of Grozny and Tiananmen to be our moral arbiters here? And if they had abstained would that have transformed an illegal war into a legal one?
Is this any sort of basis for a system of law? Obviously, the answer is no. And yet the fiction that things are otherwise was, and is, maintained not only by such sorts as the Lib Dems and the BBC, but also by Tony Blair and his Government. Which is why he’s in the pickle he’s in today – hung for a lamb, but not for the sheep he stole earlier.
I don't have any problem with nailing Mad Tony for lying. I distinctly recall him saying "We will not introduce tuition top up fees". He's been nailked over Kelly, and he is now maintaining that he didn't decieve the House.That in itself is a lie. We watched him doing it on live TV. Of course he did. We heard him. He's a dead duck. I give him 30 days.
Posted by: beachhutman | 28 April 2005 at 18:05
Tony is unbelievable. I also think it's incredible that he has managed to semi-hoodwink the people of this country into kinda going, yeah, he didn't quite tell the truth but, y'know, these things happen. You try being Prime Minister.
Huh??!!
Surely if we has some slightly more inspiring alternatives he would be long gone.....he reminds me of this: www.jogoff.co.uk/lie-detector.asp
That's his face, I'm telling ya
Posted by: Jules | 02 May 2005 at 13:00