BRITISH POLITICAL COMMENTARY: “The Iraq War, the Chilcot Inquiry and Tony Blair” / Owen Jones ☮

The Iraq Inquiry, led by Sir John Chilcot, could hardly have been more critical of Tony Blair and the New Labour government, which led us into that calamity. Many feared it would be a whitewash but in the end, it pulled no punches. From the intelligence dossier that led to Tony Blair claiming Saddam Hussein could launch WMDs within 45 minutes to the claims that the UK and US had exhausted their diplomatic options, Chilcot eviscerated those in charge. But, of course, to those of us who marched against the war, much of what the Chilcot Inquiry told us, we already knew.

BRITISH POLITICAL COMMENTARY: “Don’t Despair After Brexit – Time to Fight for Hope” / Owen Jones ☮

Britain has voted to leave the European Union by a narrow majority. Sadly, many of the things I warned about in my last video have already happened: David Cameron has resigned, the rightwing of the Tory party is poised to take over, there’s a coup attempt against Jeremy Corbyn underway, the SNP look likely to trigger a second referendum on Scottish independence, , the pound has tanked and the economy has slumped and there’s been a spike in racist incidents. We have to respect the democratic process and accept the result but we must fight against the most severe consequences of the Brexit result. Now is not the time to mourn, now is the time to organise.