MPs criticise Tony Blair for failing to co-operate with inquiry
Tony Blair has been sharply criticised by MPs for his failure to co-operate with their parliamentary inquiry into the effectiveness of the Freedom of Information Act.
The former Labour prime minister refused to respond to the Commons justice select committee which wanted to question Blair on how he could describe himself in his autobiography as a "nincompoop" for introducing the legislation which he now regarded as "antithetical to sensible government".
The MPs' report published on Wednesday says that they tried to question Blair on his opinions "but he refused to defend his views before us in person and did not submit answers to our written questions by the time this report was prepared. We deplore Mr Blair's failure to co-operate with a committee of the House, despite being given every opportunity to attend at a time convenient to him."
The former prime minister has now written to the committee apologising for the delay in submitting his evidence, but only after a Guardian report that the committee was going to censure him for failing to co-operate.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jul/26/mps-criticise-tony-blair-inquiry