While speaking before the Scottish Labor Party Spring Conference in Glasgow on February 15, 2003, an event surrounded by anti-war protesters, U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair said: ” ‘The moral case against war has a moral answer: it is the moral case for removing Saddam. It is not the reason we act. That must be according to the United Nations mandate on weapons of mass destruction. But it is the reason, frankly, why if we do have to act, we should do so with a clear conscience. Yes, there are consequences of war. If we remove Saddam by force, people will die and some will be innocent. And we must live with the consequences of our actions. But there are also consequences of *stop the war.* If I took that advice and did not insist on disarmament, yes there would be no war–but there would still be Saddam. Many of the people marching will say they hate Saddam, but the consequences of taking their advice is that he stays in charge of Iraq, ruling the Iraqi people.’ ”
– Tony Blair, A Journey, Page 423