Surveys reveal how we remember opposing the Iraq war - but at the time we supported it

54 per cent of people said they backed the invasion of Iraq in 2003, but just 37 per cent of people polled today recall supporting it

The ‘Stop the War’ march on 15 February 2003 (PA)

Hindsight is a wonderful thing - especially when it comes to wars.

But when it comes to the Iraq war, it appears many of us have used the benefit of hindsight to not only alter our view of the 2003 invasion, but have also used it to forget the fact we supported it in the first place.

Polling by YouGov found that while 54 per cent of people supported the war at the time of the invasion in 2003, just 37 per cent of people polled today recall supporting it.

Meanwhile the 2003 poll found 38 per cent of people opposed the war, but today 43 per cent of people claim they did not support it at the time.

It suggests the dishonesty surrounding one of the most controversial conflicts in modern history is not confined to the world of politics.

Tony Blair and George Bush have long been accused of lying over the real motivation for invading Iraq, but these surveys suggest the British public have been lying too - albeit on a very difference scale.

And the American's are even worse - 2003 polls found 63 per cent of people in the United States supported the invasion to remove Saddam Hussein, but fast-forward 12 years and just 38 per cent of people recall supporting it.

If only we had all possessed the same judgement on the Iraq war as the former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy, who died suddenly earlier this week.

He managed to correctly judge the political reality and mood of the nation years before most of his political counterparts, refusing to budge on his fierce and unrelenting opposition to the Iraq war, even when he knew the invasion was inevitable and continuing to oppose it risked appearing unpatriotic.