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Iraq Inquiry

I have never mentioned the word ““morale””. I do not think that the morale argument is a very strong one and the hon. Gentleman will not hear it from me. The second argument is that following Basra's transition to provincial Iraqi control in December, our military role in Iraq is now so limited—the right hon. Gentleman used the rather dismissive word ““diminished””— that an inquiry could safely be held without prejudice to the position of our servicemen and women in Iraq. That argument does not accord with the reality of our ongoing commitments in southern Iraq.