Tony Blair at the Iraq inquiry - your views

The inquiry into the war in Iraq will reach a high point on Friday when Tony Blair appears before the committee to answer questions.

Feelings about Blair's role in taking Britain into the conflict run extremely high which is why the inquiry has had to run a lottery to allocate tickets for the public gallery.

BBC News has been in contact with two members of the public who won tickets to attend the hearings. Here they outline what they are expecting and hoping to hear from the former prime minister.

When I saw that there would be a ballot for tickets to see Tony Blair appear before the Iraq Inquiry I entered, not thinking for a minute that I would get a seat.

Anya Rowson will attend the morning session of Blair's testimony

No-one ever does, do they?

You can imagine my surprise when I got an e-mail saying that there was a ticket with my name on.

In February 2003 I was one of the hundreds of thousands who marched through London to protest against an impending war with Iraq.

At the time I didn't feel that there was a legitimate reason for Britain to invade that country. I still don't.

I want Tony Blair to be passionate in his defence of taking us to war but more than that, I want him to honest. I don't want rehearsed sound bites.

After years of terrible post-war violence in Iraq, the justification for it needs to be more than a few practised sentences.

It seemed that towards the end of 2002, war with Iraq was inevitable. Why was there such a rush to invade?

The two main justifications for us going to war have been shown to be incorrect.

I want Tony Blair to be passionate in his defence. I don't want rehearsed sound bites.

There was no 45-minute threat of attack and there were no weapons of mass destruction. However, Tony Blair still considers that the invasion was justified and I'd like understand why.

I am against any war but I can see why we joined a coalition to invade Afghanistan after 11 September. But why Iraq?

Hans Blix was asking for more time to carry out weapons inspections. It appeared that military leaders at the time were warning against the conflict and there were loud voices of opposition raised within the UN but it went ahead regardless.

Tony Blair and George Bush appeared to be rushing us into an unjustified conflict and as my prime minister at the time, taking my country into a war in my name, I want to know why.

How different it will be now, to see him walk into an inquiry room to face questions about leading Britain into what I consider to be an illegal war in Iraq.

I want Tony Blair to take responsibility for misleading parliament and the country

Over the years Tony Blair has become more polished, his performances are slick but that's not what I want to see tomorrow.

I want to see just how he reacts when, I hope, it is put to him that the invasion was an attack on the wrong country at the wrong time for the wrong reasons.

We were not sold on it being about regime change - that was for the Americans. We were told the war was based on a threat which so many suspected didn't exist. It turned out that we were right.

The two million people who marched through the streets of London were right. It was a war that should not have happened.

I think Tony Blair was naïve. I think he wanted to play to Bush as Thatcher did to Reagan. We should have had no part in helping George Bush finish off what his father started.

I want Tony Blair to take responsibility for misleading parliament and the country because that's what happened.

Blair will be the highest profile person called to the inquiry

You can't say that Iraq is better now that Saddam has gone because I don't think it is. You cannot compare degrees of badness, so to speak. Iraqis suffered under Saddam Hussein and they are still suffering with the appalling violence.

I will try and sit with an open mind to hear his arguments but I don't think my opinion will change. How can it?

He was wrong then, as so many warned, and history has proved them right.

I applied for a ticket to see Blair give evidence because it's a ringside seat to history. I fear I may leave the inquiry room at the end more frustrated than when I walked in.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version