Written question asked by Llew Smith (Labour) on Monday, 11 October 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 28 October 2004. It was answered by Denis MacShane (Labour) on Thursday, 28 October 2004 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy, following the publication of the Iraq Survey Group report, to correct all instances in the Official Report in which he or other ministers in his Department stated that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction; and if he will establish an investigation into the reasons he and other departmental ministers were provided with inaccurate briefings that underpinned these answers. - No.

Answer: Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy, following the publication of the Iraq Survey Group report, to correct all instances in the Official Report in which he or other Ministers in his Department stated that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction; and if he will establish an investigation into the reasons he and other departmental ministers were provided with inaccurate briefings that underpinned these answers. [190942] Mr. MacShane: No. The Official Report is produced in order to provide an accurate account of current business in the House. All instances on which Ministers stated that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction accurately reflected the position of the Government based upon information available at the time. The information that underpinned these statements was the subject of the review headed by Lord Butler of Brockwell.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 425 c1386W; 190942
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Evidence Intelligence services Iraq Publications Weapons Official report Iraq Survey Group
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk