CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY DAREN BOWYER JUST WAR DOCTRINE

answers had been influenced by recent events 74% listed events relating to the Iraq war,
with 60% listing the War in general, 42% the Hutton Inquiry and 23% the
Government’s Dossier on Iraqi arms. These were the top three factors.
Against the backdrop of the Iraq War, former British Prime Minister John Major *
highlighted the importance of public trust and warned that it had been seriously
undermined: ‘It is fatal to the conduct of policy if the word of any Government is
disbelieved until proven beyond doubt to be true. The erosion of trust has now reached
the point where it is undermining the ability of the Government to call on the trust of the
people – as recently, for example, on Iraq.’ 193 Much of the ‘erosion of trust’ to which
Major refers was attributed to the Government’s style in general, but a significant factor
was the lack of trust – referred to above – resulting from the way in which the
Government used, or was perceived to have used ‘spin’ to bolster its case for war given
its failure to provide convincing justification. The perception of ‘spin’, Major argues,
undermined the justification that the Government was making, thus, perversely, making
it necessary for the Government to ‘spin’ the case still further. Reporting an interview
with Major for The Daily Telegraph, Philip Johnston notes Major’s view that such lack
of trust ‘seriously compromised the prospect of obtaining public backing for future
military decisions that have to be made in the national interest.’ 194
A related consequence of the lack of unambiguous justification for the Iraq War – and
perhaps of the further undermining of trust in Government that resulted – has been close
scrutiny of the prerogative powers exercised by Ministers. A detailed analysis of these
powers and challenge to them was made by the House of Commons Public
Administration Committee, in a report entitled ‘Taming the Prerogative.’ 195 The report
noted that ‘(s)everal witnesses considered the power to go to war to be the most
significant of the prerogative powers. Despite recent experience of parliamentary
involvement in decisions on military action, they believed Parliament’s influence should
be increased.’ The evidence of former Foreign Secretary Lord Hurd was quoted:
* John Major was Prime Minister from 1991, when he was elected leader of the Conservative Party after
Margaret Thatcher’s resignation, until 1997. He was thus in office for most of the 1991 Gulf War,
including at the launch of the ground war, and at the outset of British involvement in the Balkans.
127