London: The resignation spree over Prime Minister Tony Blair's Iraq policy continued
in Britain, with a senior legal adviser at the Foreign Office quitting over the
legality of the government's decision to go to war.
The Foreign Office's deputy legal adviser Elizabeth Wilmhurst, "was understood to be
unhappy with the government's official line that it has sufficient basis for war
against Iraq under (existing) UN resolutions", the 'Guardian' reported on March 22.
A Foreign Office spokesman also said "a legal advisor has decided to leave over the
last few days", but refused to disclose the reason, the paper said.
Wilmhurst, 54, had been a legal adviser for 30 years and deputy legal adviser since
1997. Her resignation will be an "embarrassment" to Premier Tony Blair, as well as
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and raises new doubts about the legal basis for the
war, the 'Guardian' said.
"It will encourage anti-war MPs to renew pressure on attorney general Lord Goldsmith
to publish in full his legal advice to government," the paper said.
Earlier, Junior Health Minister Lord Hunt, Home Office Minister John Denham, the
leader of the House of Commons Robin Cook and two ministerial aides resigned over
Blair's Iraq policy.
PTI
