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Iraq War Inquiry

My friend the Member for Islington, North (Jeremy Corbyn) talked about pressure on the day, way back in March 2003. At that time, the Prime Minister was having one-to-one meetings with Labour Members he thought could be persuaded to support him. After the vote, a colleague who had voted for the war said to me in the Tearoom that he thought he had made the biggest mistake of his life. My friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Dr. Wright) invited the Conservatives to show some humility about their role, because without them we would never have gone to war. Their fingerprints are all over the decision. Only six Conservatives voted against the war, whereas 140 Labour Members voted against it, as well as, creditably, the Liberals and the other minor parties. That is where we are. I have read the Conservative motion two or three times. It contains nothing with which I disagree, so I will vote with the Conservatives to support it. Why do we need an inquiry? The answer is self-evident. The country was comprehensively misled, and we have been misled ever since. "Lessons on Iraq", the Defence Committee's report in 2004, stated that the""MoD has failed to provide us with certain documents… and has demonstrated… less co-operation and openness than we have the right to expect as a select committee of the House of Commons."" The Foreign Affairs Committee stated:""Powers to send for papers, persons and records are, in practice, unenforceable in relation to the Executive"" when the Executive do not want to co-operate. Butler had a narrow remit. The report spoke of the deficiencies of Cabinet Government, saying that Cabinet Ministers were spectators rather than active participants. It was as though Cabinet was a vegetable patch.