THE crisis over the Attorney-General’s legal backing for the Iraq war deepened last night after a former colleague claimed that he changed his mind not once but twice. The allegation is contained in the resignation letter from a senior Foreign Office lawyer.

Elizabeth Wilmshurst resigned in March 2003 as deputy legal adviser and her letter was released yesterday under the Freedom of Information Act, although key sentences were censored. The two excised sentences obtained by The Times indicate her view that Lord Goldsmith twice changed his mind over the legality of force. The Attorney, Ms Wilmshurst says, had appeared to go along with the legal view that a second UN resolution was needed for military action and then changed his mind.

She wrote: “My views accord with the advice that has been given consistently in this office before and after the adoption of SCR (Security Council Resolution) 1441 and with what the Attorney-General gave us to understand was his view prior to his letter of March 7. The view expressed in that letter has of course changed again into what is now the official line.”

Pressure may now increase on Tony Blair to publish the March 7 letter which is now considered to be the “full” legal opinion. It concluded that military action could be justified without a second resolution but it also said that this position was open to legal challenge.

The nine-paragraph parliamentary answer released by the Attorney on March 17 was based on the “full” legal advice but did not include the March 7 caveats.

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