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Families will not see Blair
RELATIVES of South Tyneside victims of the Iraq war will not be in attendance when Tony Blair gives evidence before an inquiry into the conflict.
Seats for the former prime minister's appearance will be allocated by public ballot.
Mr Blair will give a full day of evidence to the Iraq Inquiry at some point between January 25 and February 5.
Because of overwhelming interest, places at the session will be awarded by ballot.
A third of the 50-60 seats at the London hearing have been set aside for relatives of troops who died in Iraq.
Redcap corporals Simon Miller, 21, and Paul Long, 24, were both killed when they were attacked by a 400-strong Iraqi mob in Al Majar Al-Kabir on June 24, 2003.
But neither Cpl Miller's father, John Miller, nor Cpl Long's mother, Pat Long, will be there to hear his evidence.
Mr Miller believes attending would be pointless.
He said: "The public gallery is very small and you wont be able to see anything. The footage will be streamed everywhere so I will be able to see it live.
"The other factor is that the families can't say anything. If you have seen the inquiry so far, you will notice there hasn't been a peep from the gallery.
"I don't know what they will get out of Blair – it depends whether they ask the awkward questions. There's no way he can justify the war. It's already been established that there were no weapons."
Mrs Long, 57, from Hebburn, would have loved to attend – but believes she cannot.
She said: "My understanding is that only the next of kin can attend, which would be Paul's wife. It makes me feel like nothing – we're like the forgotten ones.
"I have no faith in the inquiry. Gordon Brown won't be giving evidence until after the general election, that's just a ploy by Labour to save votes.
"The whole thing is a load of lies."
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Weather for South Shields
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
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