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Iraq Inquiry

This has been an excellent debate, and has featured some outstanding contributions. A wide range of issues have been discussed: the terms of reference, the question of oaths, the question of public versus private hearings, the membership of the committee, blame apportionment, and the concept of an interim report. Let me begin with developments that I think we all welcome. The scope of the committee will allow it to deal with the events leading up to the war, the conduct of the war itself, and the post-war reconstruction. That is a good scheme. The time frame now goes back to 2001, and we welcome that. If we are to believe what we have heard today, most of the committee's deliberations will now take place in public; private hearings will be held only when national security is involved. A point on which almost all of us can agree is that—as the hon. Member for Cannock Chase (Dr. Wright) put it—this has been an object lesson in how not to set up an inquiry. The hon. Member for Newport, West (Paul Flynn), with characteristic candour, said that he was embarrassed by the bungling of the Government. The hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) said that the inquiry would be in disarray, and that if it did not command all-party support in this House it would be difficult for it to command respect in the country. There was a great deal of disquiet about what has happened. We could have had consensus on the nature, scope, membership and terms of reference of the inquiry if the Prime Minister had engaged in proper consultation. A number of speakers drew attention to the contrast with what happened in the case of the Franks report. The Prime Minister has had limited contacts with other political leaders and Committee Chairmen. With an important issue such as this—on which there has been genuine division in the country, mirrored by division here in Parliament—consensus is all the more important, but the Prime Minister seems to have lacked the personal capability, humility and skills to seek consensus on such a momentous issue. Perhaps that is the fatal character flaw that condemns his Government to ultimate defeat. One of the key questions that raised a great deal of passion was the basis on which evidence should be given. There was an interesting and, indeed, passionate discussion of whether it should be given under oath. I must confess that, having listened to a number of learned Members setting out their rather different cases, I am not entirely sure what the legal status of oaths would be in the inquiry as it is currently proposed. The Minister should clarify that. There was widespread concern—including that expressed by the hon. Member for Thurrock (Andrew Mackinlay) and my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Torridge and West Devon (Mr. Cox)—that unless evidence was given under oath, the credibility of the inquiry itself could be fatally undermined. Having heard strong feelings in the House, what do the Government intend to do? They have changed their minds on a number of other issues over the past nine days. On 15 June, the Prime Minister said, on the issue of public and private hearings,""evidence will be heard in private. I believe that that will also ensure that evidence given by serving and former Ministers, military officers and officials is as full and candid as possible."—[Official Report, 15 June 2009; Vol. 494, c. 23.]" The intention was clear: it was to minimise the scrutiny in public of some of the most senior Ministers who were due to give evidence. We have now seen a U-turn—a welcome U-turn, it must be said—not least because of the motion that we tabled. The most impressive speech was made by the right hon. and learned Member for North-East Fife (Sir Menzies Campbell), who listed a number of substantial questions that the inquiry should consider. He pointed out that many of the most politically controversial issues did not involve national security and could therefore be discussed in public, and that there was absolutely no reason other than the politics for that not to happen. However, it was the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Lynne Jones) who really started to shed some light on the issue. She asked whether Sir John Chilcot had been consulted in advance of the Prime Minister's statement. The Foreign Secretary replied that Sir John had had no objection to the Prime Minister's statement, but that in the light of the Prime Minister's subsequent letter it had been decided to hold some more public hearings. That was a bullseye for the hon. Lady. As many of these hearings as possible should be held in public, of course. The Foreign Secretary rightly said that there are always those who make up their mind in advance of the outcome and that they would describe any inquiry, public or private, as a whitewash, but the key point is that the brighter the spotlight, the more forensic the process and the more transparent the inquiry, the more the public will be able to make an objective decision about what they see before them; and, frankly, only fools and knaves will fear the truth in this matter.