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Iraq

The hon. Gentleman makes a first-class point. I hope that Members on the Government Benches will reflect on it. Of course, nobody believes that the Prime Minister’s words were what he was really thinking, especially when he routinely talks of ““staying the course”” and says that we will not ““cut and run””. That has become a mantra, but it is not a strategy. Time and again, what is repeated echoes the line taken in the United States of America, but we should pay attention because debate in the US has moved on. Even President Bush has abandoned the mantra. At the White House, on 11 October, he said:"““Stay the course means keep doing what you’re doing. My attitude is, don’t do what you’re doing if it’s not working; change.””" If President Bush can change, why not our Government, too? All Liberal Democrat Members, and many other Members, opposed the original dreadful decision to invade Iraq. We feared the worst, but even in our pessimism we underestimated the horrors of the situation that we see now. There needs to be accountability for the mistakes that were made, and lessons need to be learned. We have already discussed the narrowness of the Hutton and Butler inquiries and the difficulties with the investigation undertaken by the Foreign Affairs Committee. The motion is an important step forward. It echoes the early-day motion tabled by the right hon. and learned Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Mr. Hogg) and should be regarded as a serious attempt by Parliament to assert its rights and do its job of scrutinising the Executive.