Richard Norton-Taylor reports in the Guardian today that, according to documents made public by the National Archive today, the Law Officers were not consulted in advance of military action over Suez in 1956. And after the http://www.raybani.com/ operation began, the Attorney General Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller made clear he the Prime Minister his view that action was unlawful. The then head of the FCO legal branch, Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice, is reported to have said that the Attorney and the Solicitor General had “seriously considered” resignation, but there seems to have been some kind of arrangement designed to ensure their view did not become public.

What utter cowardice! If I were the Attorney, and military action was launched which in my view was unlawful and about which I had not even been consulted – the Prime Minister preferring simply to rely on the view of the Lord Chancellor – I would certainly have resigned. Manningham-Buller obviously should have done so.

2017-03-18T03:27:04+00:00Tags: |