Miliband brothers battle it out over Iraq war

Ed Miliband has claimed that he opposed the war at the time of the invasion in 2003 but was living in the US, so his views were not known in the UK. His claim was repeatedly challenged by leadership contender Ed Balls.

Balls said: "I do not think Ed or any of the rest of us can claim with any credibility that in 2003 we thought the war was wrong but we just forgot to tell anyone, because that would make us look ridiculous."

The pointed exchanges started when Ed Miliband sought to distinguish himself from his brother, saying: "One of the differences between David and myself is I think I am more critical of some of the things we did in government, and more willing to move on from some of the mistakes that we made, not just on foreign policy, like Iraq, but on the economy and the fact that we have left lots of people on low wages."

David Miliband countered: "I do not believe we lost the 2010 election because of Iraq and we fool ourselves if we think [we lost] places like Stevenage – that we won in 2005 – because of Iraq."

He added: "We have all said that if we had known in 2003 there were no weapons of mass destruction then of course we would not have voted for the war."

He asserted: "Diane Abbot is the only candidate that can say she was against the war at the time, and if that is the sole criterion, she is in a different position to every other candidate."

Ed Miliband insisted on his opposition: "I did tell people at the time that asked me that I was against the war."

Balls said under his breath "you did not tell people" before pointing out that in 2005, when the Times asked Labour figures whether they would have voted for the war, Ed did not answer the question.

Balls said he now apologised for the decision to back the war, while Andy Burnham said: "It was the most agonising process he had been through in my life."

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jul/29/miliband-brothers-iraq-war-labour-leadership