It was a mistake. On the information we had, we shouldn't have prosecuted the war. We shouldn't have changed our argument from international law to regime change in a non-transparent way. It was an error for which we as a country paid a heavy price, and for which many people paid with their lives.

Balls is married to current Shadow Home Secretary and fellow Labour MP Yvette Cooper. In June 2007 they became the first married couple to serve together in a British Cabinet when Cooper became Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British Labour Party and Co-operative Partypolitician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Morley and Outwood since 2010 and is the current Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.