Secret letter exposes how Blair lied

London: An explosive secret letter that exposes how Tony Blair lied over the legality of the Iraq War has been revealed.

The Chilcot Inquiry into the war will interrogate the former Prime Minister over the devastating "smoking gun" memo, which warned him in the starkest terms the war was illegal.

The Mail on Sunday can disclose that Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith wrote the letter to Blair in July 2002 a full eight months before the war telling him that deposing Saddam Hussain was a blatant breach of international law.

It was intended to make Blair call off the invasion, but he ignored it. Instead, a panicking Blair issued instructions to gag Lord Goldsmith, banned him from attending Cabinet meetings and ordered a cover-up to stop the public finding out.

He even concealed the bombshell information from his own Cabinet, fearing it would spark an anti-war revolt. The only people he told were a handful of cronies who were sworn to secrecy.

Lord Goldsmith was so furious at his treatment he threatened to resign and lost three stone as Blair and his cronies bullied him into backing down.

Sources close to the peer say he was "more or less pinned to the wall" in a Downing Street showdown with two of Blair's most loyal aides, Lord Falconer and Baroness Morgan.

The revelations follow a series of testimonies by key figures at the Chilcot Inquiry who have questioned Blair's judgment and honesty, and the legality of the war.

The Mail on Sunday has learned that the inquiry has been given Lord Goldsmith's explosive letter, and that Blair and the peer are likely to be interrogated about it when they give evidence in the New Year.

Qualified backing

Lord Goldsmith gave qualified legal backing to the conflict days before the war broke out in March 2003 in a brief, carefully drafted statement.

But Sunday's revelations show that Lord Goldsmith told Blair at the outset, and in writing, that military action against Iraq was totally illegal.

The disclosures deal a massive blow to Blair's hopes of proving he acted in good faith when he and George Bush declared war on Iraq. And they are likely to fuel further calls for Blair to be charged with war crimes.

The legal row in 2003 came to a head days before the war, when the UN refused to approve military action. Stranded, Blair had to win Lord Goldsmith's legal backing, not least because British military chiefs refused to send troops into action without it.

On March 17, three days before the conflict started, Lord Goldsmith said the war was legal on the basis of previous UN resolutions threatening action against Saddam — even though in his secret letter of July 2002, he had ruled out this argument.

A spokesman for Lord Goldsmith last night said: "This letter is probably in the bundle that has been supplied to the inquiry by the Attorney-General's department. It is presumed they will want to discuss it with him. If so, Lord Goldsmith is content to do so.

"His focus is on the legality of the war, its morality is for others."

A spokesman for the Chilcot Inquiry said: "We are content we have obtained all the relevant documents."

A spokesman for Blair refused to say why he had not disclosed Lord Goldsmith's July 2002 letter.