John
05-22-2010, 06:28 PM
He was speaking after two Labour leadership contenders condemned Britain's decision to join the invasion of Iraq.
Ed Balls was the first former cabinet minister to declare outright that it was "wrong", while Ed Miliband said the decision had been "catastrophic" for Labour support.
Their comments have been seen as attempts to distance themselves from the two other leading candidates - Andy Burnham and David Miliband - who both voted in favour of the war.
But the former foreign secretary told Sky News he did not think he had been tarnished by having been at the centre of the previous government.
He acknowledged the invasion of 2003 had been a divisive issue within the party, but said it was now "time to move on".
"It was me that said we have to move on, that we should be proud of what we achieved, humble about our mistakes and [be] determined to present a clearer offer to the British people at the next general election," Mr Miliband said.
"I don't think anyone wants to live in our history, we should learn from it but not live in it.
"I think now is the time to recognise that this is a new political era, not just in terms of the fact there's a coalition government... but new challenges and new questions being posed by the electorate."
Former children's secretary Mr Balls said going to war in 2003 was an "error" for which Britain had paid a heavy price.
"It was a mistake. On the information we had, we shouldn't have prosecuted the war," he told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"We shouldn't have changed our argument from international law to regime change in a non-transparent way.
"It was an error for which we as a country paid a heavy price, and for which many people paid with their lives.
"Saddam Hussein was a horrible man, and I am pleased he is no longer running Iraq. But the war was wrong."
Ed Miliband told The Guardian newspaper that UN weapons inspectors were not given enough time before coalition troops invaded the country.
The former energy and climate change secretary said: "As we all know, the basis for going to war was on the basis of Saddam's threat in terms of weapons of mass destruction.
"Therefore that is why I felt the weapons inspectors should have been given more time to find out whether he had those weapons and Hans Blix - the head of the UN weapons inspectorate - was saying that he wanted to be given more time.
"The basis for going to war was the threat that he posed.
"The combination of not giving the weapons inspectors more time, and then the weapons not being found, I think for a lot of people it led to a catastrophic loss of trust for us, and we do need to draw a line under it."
Mr Balls, who was an adviser to Gordon Brown at the Treasury at the time of the invasion, said he warned Mr Brown it was a mistake to blame the French for a breakdown in negotiations to find a peaceful resolution.
"I was in the room when a decision was taken that we would say it was that dastardly Frenchman, Jacques Chirac, who had scuppered it," he said.
Ed Balls was the first former cabinet minister to declare outright that it was "wrong", while Ed Miliband said the decision had been "catastrophic" for Labour support.
Their comments have been seen as attempts to distance themselves from the two other leading candidates - Andy Burnham and David Miliband - who both voted in favour of the war.
But the former foreign secretary told Sky News he did not think he had been tarnished by having been at the centre of the previous government.
He acknowledged the invasion of 2003 had been a divisive issue within the party, but said it was now "time to move on".
"It was me that said we have to move on, that we should be proud of what we achieved, humble about our mistakes and [be] determined to present a clearer offer to the British people at the next general election," Mr Miliband said.
"I don't think anyone wants to live in our history, we should learn from it but not live in it.
"I think now is the time to recognise that this is a new political era, not just in terms of the fact there's a coalition government... but new challenges and new questions being posed by the electorate."
Former children's secretary Mr Balls said going to war in 2003 was an "error" for which Britain had paid a heavy price.
"It was a mistake. On the information we had, we shouldn't have prosecuted the war," he told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"We shouldn't have changed our argument from international law to regime change in a non-transparent way.
"It was an error for which we as a country paid a heavy price, and for which many people paid with their lives.
"Saddam Hussein was a horrible man, and I am pleased he is no longer running Iraq. But the war was wrong."
Ed Miliband told The Guardian newspaper that UN weapons inspectors were not given enough time before coalition troops invaded the country.
The former energy and climate change secretary said: "As we all know, the basis for going to war was on the basis of Saddam's threat in terms of weapons of mass destruction.
"Therefore that is why I felt the weapons inspectors should have been given more time to find out whether he had those weapons and Hans Blix - the head of the UN weapons inspectorate - was saying that he wanted to be given more time.
"The basis for going to war was the threat that he posed.
"The combination of not giving the weapons inspectors more time, and then the weapons not being found, I think for a lot of people it led to a catastrophic loss of trust for us, and we do need to draw a line under it."
Mr Balls, who was an adviser to Gordon Brown at the Treasury at the time of the invasion, said he warned Mr Brown it was a mistake to blame the French for a breakdown in negotiations to find a peaceful resolution.
"I was in the room when a decision was taken that we would say it was that dastardly Frenchman, Jacques Chirac, who had scuppered it," he said.