British AG's Advice on War Leaks to Press

The Observer is reporting today that the British Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, advised Tony Blair in March of 2003 that a war in Iraq "could be in breach of international law for six reasons ranging from the lack of a second United Nations resolution to UN inspector Hans Blix's continuing search for weapons." Eventually, Goldsmith publicly gave his seal of approval to the invasion.

Leaving aside the validity of the legal advice (which I'm in no position to judge), the "sudden disclosure is bound to have an explosive effect on the election campaign," according to the paper. Labour has a structural advantage going into this election (once again, single-member districts will distort the seats-to-votes ratio), so they are still likely to hold a legislative majority. But this news will fuel Lib Dem and Tory attacks on Blair's credibility, which will diminish the size of the Labour vote, if not its majority in the Commons.

Stay tuned - the election is only 11 days away.