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Iraq Inquiry

As I look around the Chamber, I see that I am probably the junior Member. Today Members have made some of the most powerful and incisive speeches that I have heard in the more than three years I have been here, and that shows the importance of the decision to go to war with Iraq. I have considered why I came to this House, and the main reason is that I could not get 55,000 people into the Chamber. So I have come on their behalf, to express their views and concerns. I fully understand that the Prime Minister cannot visit supermarkets or pop down the pub, as some of us can, to hear what constituents say on the street. But I cannot accept the fact that the policy of the Government is being made by people who are not elected to the House. The Government came here and made a statement on the Iraq inquiry, which they said would be in private, and someone unelected then changed the mind of the Prime Minister. That cannot be right. We have waited six years for an inquiry. None of us, inside the House or outside it, criticised the armed forces once war was declared, and rightly so; we have supported them and should continue to do so. However, the inquiry has been on the books for a considerable time. For the sake of a few more days, we must hold fire and allow the House to make the decision on the composition, remit and powers of the inquiry. If we do not, its very legitimacy will be lost. That legitimacy is needed to put at rest the minds of the families of those who have been killed and injured, and for the sake of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people who died during the war. We must make sure that the inquiry has the legitimacy of public debate. Within that debate, we understand that some things—they should be the exception—might have to be discussed and considered in private. But the vast majority of the debate must be held in public. The people of this country have rightly expressed their anger and concern, given how the expenses issue has blown up in the press. But I would rather that the press had a field day with a public inquiry than made things up because the inquiry was held in private. We need to be open and transparent, and we must achieve that through the House. Considering why we went to war is the primary reason for the inquiry. There is no doubt about that, and we have heard it said many times this afternoon. That must be the main focus of the inquiry, but many of my constituents are concerned also about the strategy of the war and the fact that we had no exit strategy. We did not really know how we would leave Iraq, and in fact there is still a lot of answering to be done about that. One major concern that has been expressed to me on many occasions is the equipment that has been used in Iraq, or the lack of it. That is a concern for today, not just in Iraq but in the war that we are fighting in Afghanistan, and it must be addressed. The Hutton inquiry was held in public and reported regularly throughout the time for which it was held. I hope that that will be the case as and when we settle the terms of reference for this inquiry. There must be regular reports, and certainly having to wait 12 months for the first part of the report is unacceptable. If the Government cannot step back tonight and think again about how the inquiry will be set up, and especially about the composition of the inquiry panel, I urge all hon. Members to support the official Opposition's motion.