How’s this going to play ahead of the election?

The real danger of Jack Straw’s announcement that he’s using his veto to stop cabinet minutes on the Iraq war decision being made available under the Freedom of Information Act is that it could open up the whole episode as a political issue once again.

Even though it’s nearly six years since it all happened Ministers have managed to fend off calls for an inquiry into the issue, which was so damaging to Labour at the last election. Time, of course, is a great healer and it looked as though it could have been forgotten.

Straw is helped that the Tories, who supported the invasion, have gone along with the veto which should take some of the immediate sting out of the situation. Maybe the Opposition is thinking that they’ll be in power in only a year and a bit and don’t want to establish precedents that could be difficult to live with. Expediency wins every time.

But it all leaves a sense that something is wrong – after all, it will be said, you don’t try to cover up something unless you have something to hide. No doubt this will be used as a lever to get a proper inquiry into the war – something that ministers would like to put back until after the election.

The cartoon, as ever is by Marf. More of her work can be found at LondonSketchbook.com.