The Sketch: It's not a conspiracy; it's not even a secret

A number of conspiracy theories were refuted ­ or rebutted, or at least denied by the Prime Minister yesterday. The first was that regime change was the purpose of the invasion.

There are those (the Prime Minister among them) who insist the war was about disarmament. There are others (the Prime Minister among them) who say it was for humanitarian reasons. But regime change as an American objective in Iraq is not a conspiracy theory. Nor is it a secret. In fact, they passed a law through Congress some five years ago enabling them to do just that. Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Perle were its background sponsors. The same characters who are now making threatening noises about invading Syria.

This is the next conspiracy theory that Tony Blair waved away. Tam Dalyell asked him for an unambiguous assurance we would not do it. The Prime Minister said there were "no plans whatsoever" to do so. In the prime ministerial lexicon, such a tentative assertion is practically a boast.

For instance, when asked if he was sure there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, he said he had "absolutely no doubt at all". That level of conviction means he thinks there's an outside chance someone will find something to back him up. And as the military is offering $1m cash (in Swiss francs or US dollars) for information leading to the discovery of the same, it is pretty certain that demand will lead to supply (anyone who can smuggle fresh VX into the country will be quickly enriched ­ Russia, I'm looking at you!).

Alex Salmond got the Prime Minister to admit the truth. He asked for an assurance that UK forces would in no circumstances participate in an attack on Syria. The Prime Minister said: "We couldn't pin weapons of mass destruction on Iraq but we invaded them anyway, and we're going to use the same excuse on Syria, and maybe even Iran; make no mistake, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz have a plan to run the Middle East, and I'm going to sell it."

Interesting, wasn't it? He phrased it differently, of course. His precise words were: "There are no plans to attack Syria." But we knew what he meant.

NB: Mr Blair's insistence on one power centre in the world. Doesn't this sound like a reich to last a thousand years?

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