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Opposition day on Tuesday, 25 March 2008, in the House of Commons, led by Lord Hague of Richmond. The answering member was David Miliband.

Iraq Inquiry

Review of government decisions leading to military action in Iraq. Eighth opposition day debate. Motion negatived on division (299 to 271). Amendment agreed on division (299 to 259).

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
474 c39-135 
Session
2007-08
Department
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 474 c39 (Link to this contribution) We now come to the Opposition Day debate on the Iraq inquiry. I have to announce to the House that M...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c43 (Link to this contribution) That would depend on later events, but I do not think so. Given the stage that we have now reached o...
Show all contributions (284)
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c44 (Link to this contribution) I am trying to involve all parts of the House, so I give way to the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 474 c44 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful. To develop the argument that the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Cl...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c43-4 (Link to this contribution) Having spent the weekend reading Sir Hilary Synnott's book, I am determined to impart my knowledge o...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c44 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that that period starts with an election. Rather, it is for the members of the inquir...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c42-3 (Link to this contribution) Of course, there are people who hold that view. There are disagreements in the House and in every pa...
Lembit Opik | 474 c42 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that some of us felt that, whatever preparation had been made i...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c42 (Link to this contribution) Of course, it would be open to an inquiry to examine the arguments about legality. I suspect that a ...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c43 (Link to this contribution) That is, characteristically of my right hon. and learned Friend, a hugely constructive proposal. Ind...
Lord Clarke of Nottingham | 474 c43 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend share my opinion that it is clear that a majority in the House of Commons ...
Rob Marris | 474 c43 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his graciousness. If the inquiry that he seeks through...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c42 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Mr. ...
Viscount Hailsham | 474 c42 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that any inquiry needs to embark on the much more fundamental questi...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c41-2 (Link to this contribution) Let me proceed a little way. I will give way to hon. Members in due course, but we have to remember ...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c41 (Link to this contribution) The case we have set out in the motion is for a Privy Council inquiry, modelled on the inquiry that ...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c41 (Link to this contribution) In fairness, I shall give way to the hon. Lady, who has been trying to intervene, and I shall then p...
Rob Marris | 474 c41 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c41 (Link to this contribution) The best answer that I could give to the hon. Gentleman would be to develop the case of what an inqu...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c40 (Link to this contribution) There is no reason why that should not be built into an inquiry. If we were to carry the motion, the...
David Hamilton | 474 c41 (Link to this contribution) As someone who voted against the Iraq war on every single occasion, I think that it ill becomes some...
Speaker | 474 c41 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am trying to assist the hon. Gentleman in the use of the correct parliamentary language. He...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c40 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes).
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c40 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that no Opposition party would object if an inquiry wished to have access to any of its pa...
Andrew Mackinlay | 474 c40 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman go along with the idea that whenever an inquiry is held, it will be us...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c39-40 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House calls for an inquiry by an independent committee of privy councillors...
Gordon Prentice | 474 c40 (Link to this contribution) Do the Government have to initiate an inquiry? What is stopping Parliament from setting up its own i...
Speaker | 474 c39 (Link to this contribution) We now come to the Opposition Day debate on the Iraq inquiry. I have to announce to the House that M...
Peter Bottomley | 474 c55 (Link to this contribution) What the House hopes to hear is why an argument that might have been premature 18 months ago has not...
David Miliband | 474 c55 (Link to this contribution) There have been four arguments made for an inquiry and I want to go through them one by one, but the...
Ed Davey | 474 c55 (Link to this contribution) Rather than taking the easy tack and looking at the inconsistency of the Conservative position, will...
David Miliband | 474 c55 (Link to this contribution) I shall address that directly. Essentially, we think that the priority of Government and our armed s...
Tom Levitt | 474 c55 (Link to this contribution) The one group of people whose views on this issue have not been mentioned in the first hour of this ...
David Miliband | 474 c53-4 (Link to this contribution) The events demonstrate a wide range of issues, not least the role of the Iraqi security forces and p...
David Miliband | 474 c54-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman referred to the Falklands—the right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks called it a m...
Paul Keetch | 474 c54 (Link to this contribution) For the record I want to say that my party, of course, called for an inquiry at a time considerably ...
David Miliband | 474 c54 (Link to this contribution) As I shall show in the course of my remarks, the Ministry of Defence has published two studies of th...
Crispin Blunt | 474 c54 (Link to this contribution) The events in Basra today, where the Iraqi army is trying to address the militias and, to a degree, ...
David Miliband | 474 c52 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, To leave out from 'House' to the end of the Question, and to add instead thereof:"'no...
Simon Burns | 474 c52 (Link to this contribution) The British Government's view is that now is not the right time, but why have the Americans been pre...
David Miliband | 474 c52 (Link to this contribution) That relates to the burden of my speech; it is contained in our amendment, which refers to the ““imp...
Jeremy Corbyn | 474 c52-3 (Link to this contribution) Does the Foreign Secretary not accept that his argument is absurd? If we do not have an inquiry now,...
David Miliband | 474 c53 (Link to this contribution) Some 60 debates on the Iraq issue have taken place in this House. It is proper and right that any ho...
Malcolm Rifkind | 474 c53 (Link to this contribution) A few moments ago, the Foreign Secretary argued that the conflict in Basra is a good argument agains...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c50 (Link to this contribution) We have also discussed that many times. I do not regret my decision, but other Members who voted the...
Mark Hendrick | 474 c50 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. I take on board his point that this issue is about ...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c51 (Link to this contribution) In advancing that argument, the hon. Gentleman might start to fracture the possible coalition in all...
Simon Hughes | 474 c50-1 (Link to this contribution) There is another strong reason in the national interest why there should be an inquiry now. Given th...
Lord Clarke of Nottingham | 474 c58 (Link to this contribution) I do not understand the Foreign Secretary's response to my hon. Friend the Member for Chichester (Mr...
Robert Marshall-Andrews | 474 c58 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary's argument is predicated, in truth, almost entirely on the fact that it would ...
David Miliband | 474 c58 (Link to this contribution) The same question was asked in a previous debate, and the answer was, ““None.”” That is not the basi...
David Miliband | 474 c58 (Link to this contribution) The Prime Minister's promises were made on the basis of military advice. He promised a downward tren...
Bernard Jenkin | 474 c57 (Link to this contribution) On the previous point, I think that my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Norfolk (Mr. Simpson) complete...
David Miliband | 474 c57 (Link to this contribution) I think it is evident that the mission has not been accomplished. I associate myself entirely with s...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 474 c57 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary says that Iraq is an ongoing situation. Is he saying, therefore, that the Pres...
David Miliband | 474 c57 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has been trying to get in; I am happy to let him.
David Miliband | 474 c57 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way at the end of this section of my speech. UK forces were in close contact with the ...
Bernard Jenkin | 474 c56 (Link to this contribution) Will the Foreign Secretary give way?
David Miliband | 474 c56-7 (Link to this contribution) No, I am just going to make this point, then I shall let hon. Members come in. British forces still...
Lord Tyrie | 474 c56 (Link to this contribution) The whole of the Foreign Secretary's argument seems to rest on what will be perceived outside this C...
David Miliband | 474 c56 (Link to this contribution) It is a good thing that the right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks did not mention the Mesopotamia ca...
David Miliband | 474 c56 (Link to this contribution) I have never mentioned the word ““morale””. I do not think that the morale argument is a very strong...
Keith Simpson | 474 c56 (Link to this contribution) A case could just be made by the Foreign Secretary about the Dardanelles, but he glided carefully ov...
David Miliband | 474 c55-6 (Link to this contribution) That is a good point and one that we had not thought of circulating in the briefing. We have not bee...
Malcolm Rifkind | 474 c61 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary said earlier that it was not the morale of troops in Basra that was of concern...
David Miliband | 474 c60 (Link to this contribution) There is absolutely no comparison between the Privy Council inquiry advocated by the right hon. Memb...
Lynne Jones | 474 c61 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend mentions the Butler committee's inquiry, but how can the House have confidence ...
David Miliband | 474 c61 (Link to this contribution) I have never heard the credibility or the good sense of the Butler inquiry called into question. I t...
Lynne Jones | 474 c60 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
David Miliband | 474 c60-1 (Link to this contribution) In a moment; let me make some progress. The right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks, majored on this p...
Alan Simpson | 474 c61 (Link to this contribution) What the Butler saw was as little as possible.
Lord Howard of Lympne | 474 c60 (Link to this contribution) The Opposition's position on the four inquiries may indeed have been that the terms of reference wer...
David Miliband | 474 c60 (Link to this contribution) I am glad to have my hon. Friend's support, and I think that there is rather a lot of agreement, cer...
David Miliband | 474 c58-9 (Link to this contribution) The argument is straightforward: that the focus, attention and priority of armed services and diplom...
Patrick Mercer | 474 c59 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary spoke about lessons learned, but 15 years or more ago a very expensive course—...
David Miliband | 474 c59 (Link to this contribution) I shall be happy to look into that, and to ask my hon. Friend the Minister for the Armed Forces to a...
Keith Simpson | 474 c59 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary has gone into some detail about the internal inquiries conducted by the Minist...
David Miliband | 474 c59 (Link to this contribution) The wisdom of all Foreign Office officials is of course used to inform the development of policy. Th...
Ed Davey | 474 c59-60 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that the Foreign Secretary has just holed himself below the water line. He has told the ...
David Miliband | 474 c60 (Link to this contribution) The argument against the Government was that those inquiries were narrow and limited. I shall go thr...
Barry Sheerman | 474 c60 (Link to this contribution) Before my right hon. Friend moves on from the point about memories fading, many in this House rememb...
David Miliband | 474 c61-2 (Link to this contribution) First of all, for the record, I would never say that the morale of troops was not of concern. My arg...
David Miliband | 474 c62 (Link to this contribution) On due grounds, I shall give way to the right hon. and learned Member for North-East Fife (Sir Menzi...
Lord Campbell of Pittenweem | 474 c62 (Link to this contribution) I have listened carefully to the Foreign Secretary's speech. Does he understand that the impression ...
David Miliband | 474 c62 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, because he has not yet had a chance to speak, but then I want...
Richard Ottaway | 474 c62 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary has spoken about the wide-ranging nature of the Butler inquiry and the inquiry...
David Miliband | 474 c62 (Link to this contribution) We have had 60 debates, many of which have focused on that and other relevant issues. However, that ...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c44 (Link to this contribution) We have not quite reached that point yet, but we might, if we continue like this, nearer to a genera...
Doug Henderson | 474 c44 (Link to this contribution) Unlike the right hon. Gentleman, I voted against the war in Iraq. I accept that lessons can be learn...
Frank Cook | 474 c46 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman asks what harm it could do to this country. I can tell him quite plainly th...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c46 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the general point that the hon. Gentleman is making. Of course, the same argument could...
Angus Robertson | 474 c46 (Link to this contribution) An odd argument has been made by the hon. Member for Stockton, North (Frank Cook) about an inquiry u...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c47 (Link to this contribution) I think that that question has already been raised, Mr. Deputy Speaker, so I may have to cut down on...
Lord Beamish | 474 c47 (Link to this contribution) I am listening very carefully, but it seems as if the right hon. Gentleman and his party were not in...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c46-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a valuable point. There have been far more searching investigations and discuss...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c47-8 (Link to this contribution) Let me continue for a few moments. A further aspect of the passage of time to which I referred is t...
Ian Taylor | 474 c48 (Link to this contribution) I happen to have opposed the war on the grounds that insufficient thought had been given at the time...
Mark Hendrick | 474 c48 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c48 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a personal and a political point in support of my case, for which I am grateful...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c48 (Link to this contribution) Not at the moment. Similarly, in response to the same question, the Department for International De...
Mark Hendrick | 474 c49 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c48-9 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way for the moment. I expect the Foreign Secretary will advance that argument again...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c49-50 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman before the end of my speech. Of course it is true that there ...
David Miliband | 474 c62 (Link to this contribution) With all due respect, I believe that the right hon. and learned Gentleman thought of that line befor...
Speaker | 474 c62-3 (Link to this contribution) Order. I may have anticipated the point of order the hon. Gentleman was about to raise. The Foreign ...
David Miliband | 474 c63 (Link to this contribution) I am certainly not going to argue with the Deputy Speaker, or trespass on the conventions of the Hou...
Crispin Blunt | 474 c63 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. May I suggest to the Foreign Secretary that he make that st...
Speaker | 474 c63 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Gentleman knows that that is not a matter on which the Chair can pronounce. I ...
David Miliband | 474 c63 (Link to this contribution) Let me conclude, Mr. Deputy Speaker, by addressing the finely balanced position that continues to ex...
Adam Price | 474 c64 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
David Miliband | 474 c64 (Link to this contribution) No. All the efforts of our most senior people, from soldiers to diplomats, need to be focused on cre...
Mike Gapes | 474 c82 (Link to this contribution) That is important now and it is particularly important in the US, because mainly US money is involve...
Mike Gapes | 474 c82 (Link to this contribution) No, I am in my final minute. I have been generous in giving way several times. The issues emerging ...
Peter Tapsell | 474 c82-3 (Link to this contribution) I voted against the invasion of Iraq. As we have all heard, we have already had four inquiries and o...
Peter Tapsell | 474 c83-4 (Link to this contribution) I am all in favour of the inquiry, because I should like to see Mr. Blair cross-examined on these ma...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 474 c85 (Link to this contribution) Is not the point that it was not the British who decided to do that? Was it not simply Tony Blair's ...
Mike Gapes | 474 c81-2 (Link to this contribution) I will not take that from the hon. Gentleman. I am afraid that I will take no lectures from him. We ...
Peter Tapsell | 474 c85 (Link to this contribution) I think that that is so. I was in New York on the morning of 9/11. I was not there when the attack o...
Mike Gapes | 474 c81 (Link to this contribution) The Scottish National party is at least being consistent—[Interruption.] Consistently wrong, but con...
Mike Gapes | 474 c81 (Link to this contribution) It seems so. That is interesting.
Mike Gapes | 474 c81 (Link to this contribution) I give way to the hon. Member for Reigate (Mr. Blunt).
Crispin Blunt | 474 c81 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful. The hon. Gentleman has just paid a generous and proper tribute to Iraqi politicians w...
Angus Robertson | 474 c80 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee for giving way. I think that the reco...
Mike Gapes | 474 c79-80 (Link to this contribution) I shall take your advice, Madam Deputy Speaker. I would simply say that there needs to be a recogni...
Mike Gapes | 474 c80 (Link to this contribution) The problem with the crude, simplistic view of the world is that it does not take account of facts. ...
Paul Keetch | 474 c79 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my Chairman for giving way. Thanks to the procedures that we have in this House, we...
Speaker | 474 c79 (Link to this contribution) Order. Perhaps I can advise the hon. Gentleman that the only amendment under discussion tonight is t...
Mike Gapes | 474 c79 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I will not support the Conservative motion tonight. Nor, unfortunately, will I be a...
Mike Gapes | 474 c80 (Link to this contribution) I will give way in a moment. Presumably, the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson) will tell me th...
Doug Henderson | 474 c76 (Link to this contribution) I did not intend to intervene on the right hon. and learned Gentleman, but following the point raise...
Lord Howard of Lympne | 474 c76 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right: that is one of the many reasons why we need an inquiry.
Mike Gapes | 474 c79 (Link to this contribution) If the motion before us today proposed an inquiry into all aspects of UK relations with Iraq over th...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 474 c78 (Link to this contribution) I am listening intently to the hon. Gentleman's concerns, which stretch over many decades. I take it...
Mike Gapes | 474 c77-8 (Link to this contribution) Since 2003 there have been four inquiries into the events leading up the war in Iraq, as has been st...
Lord Howard of Lympne | 474 c77 (Link to this contribution) No, I do not accept that reasoning at all. My right hon. and hon. Friends have cited the precedents....
Mike Gapes | 474 c79 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to my friend over there, my colleague on the Foreign Affairs Committee, even though ...
Gordon Prentice | 474 c79 (Link to this contribution) My friend is becoming very animated. Did he know that the Public Administration Committee will be ta...
Mike Gapes | 474 c79 (Link to this contribution) I am always in favour of Select Committees of this House initiating inquiries. I was a member of the...
Ann Clwyd | 474 c73 (Link to this contribution) Because Iraq had ignored 17 UN Security Resolutions—[Interruption.] I wonder whether the hon. Gentle...
Ann Clwyd | 474 c74 (Link to this contribution) I agree that humanitarian arguments were not presented. I think that they should have been, and that...
Lord Howard of Lympne | 474 c74-5 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Cynon Valley (Ann Clwyd), who speaks with such ...
Speaker | 474 c74 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind hon. Members that Mr. Speaker has imposed a 15-minute time limit on Back-Bench contr...
Jeremy Corbyn | 474 c75 (Link to this contribution) May I take the right hon. and learned Gentleman back to the late 1980s when he was a Minister? Since...
Lord Howard of Lympne | 474 c75-6 (Link to this contribution) That is exactly what the Scott inquiry examined at length. It was right to hold an inquiry into thos...
Mike Gapes | 474 c76 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Gentleman has been around long enough to know that several serving member...
Lord Howard of Lympne | 474 c76 (Link to this contribution) That is not what the Prime Minister said. He did not say, ““We can't have an inquiry because there a...
Tobias Ellwood | 474 c76 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that many military personnel would welcome an inquiry no...
Ann Clwyd | 474 c70-1 (Link to this contribution) I think that I have been quite consistent during the time that I have spoken about Iraq in this Cham...
Ed Davey | 474 c69-70 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I made a mistake in allowing the hon. Gentleman to intervene. I will listen to my h...
Mark Hendrick | 474 c69 (Link to this contribution) Were not the deliberations of the right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks (Mr. Hague) all about distan...
Ed Davey | 474 c69 (Link to this contribution) I give way to the hon. Gentleman.
Ann Clwyd | 474 c71 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, but the hon. Gentleman is completely missing my point, which is that there was an altern...
John Barrett | 474 c71 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Lady argued for military action on humanitarian grounds, but would she agree that one...
Ed Davey | 474 c69 (Link to this contribution) And indeed to others in this House, on the nationalist Benches and on the Labour Back Benches.
Ann Clwyd | 474 c73 (Link to this contribution) That may be the case, but it is not my case. My point is that for more than 25 years, senior Iraqi o...
Paul Robert Holmes | 474 c72-3 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Lady says that she voted for the invasion reluctantly, because we could not get the i...
Mark Hunter | 474 c73 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Lady makes the case for regime change and says that the war in Iraq was all about tha...
Ann Clwyd | 474 c73 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for making that point. He is absolutely right. I tried to talk about it last ...
Alan Simpson | 474 c71 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point, but does she regret—as those who shared her concern but sti...
Ann Clwyd | 474 c71-2 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point. I would have liked a full-scale indictment where all the charges ...
Jeremy Corbyn | 474 c72 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend consider that any inquiry held should also look at the role of the Foreign...
Ann Clwyd | 474 c72 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend was one of those few people who, in 1988, came with me to the Foreign Office to compl...
Ed Davey | 474 c66 (Link to this contribution) One can only go on what the military spokesmen are saying. Even if the limited military operations ...
Jim Cunningham | 474 c66 (Link to this contribution) British forces are there to train the Iraqi forces, but also, if necessary, to back them up. We do n...
Ed Davey | 474 c66 (Link to this contribution) I know because that is what the military are telling the journalists in Iraq. The Minister ought to ...
Ed Davey | 474 c66 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, but he anticipates my speech; I shall deal with his point in a ...
Robert Goodwill | 474 c65-6 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary tried to make the point that many potential participants in the inquiry may be...
Ed Davey | 474 c65 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He will know that there have been many American investigations i...
Paul Keetch | 474 c65 (Link to this contribution) If my hon. Friend speaks to senior members of Congress who were involved in the Baker review, they w...
Ed Davey | 474 c65 (Link to this contribution) That is rather rich, coming from the Conservative Benches. I agree with the hon. Gentleman on one th...
Lord Randall of Uxbridge | 474 c65 (Link to this contribution) Has not the hon. Gentleman given his game away by asking for hon. Members to be made to give account...
Ed Davey | 474 c68 (Link to this contribution) I certainly think that all the Opposition parties in this House should work together on that and wor...
Adam Price | 474 c68 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is, of course, right that if we are to restore public confidence in the democrati...
Ed Davey | 474 c69 (Link to this contribution) It is low down on the list, given all the deaths that have occurred, but it is one of the many reaso...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 474 c68 (Link to this contribution) Is not the fact that the UK is spending £4.5 million a day enough reason alone for an inquiry?
Mark Hendrick | 474 c67 (Link to this contribution) To compare a war that was taking place in 1917 with one that has taken place this century—in the age...
Ed Davey | 474 c67-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman anticipates me; it is longer than the first world war, and almost as long as the ...
Ed Davey | 474 c67 (Link to this contribution) I give way to the hon. Gentleman. I hope that he can come up with a better argument than that of his...
Ed Davey | 474 c64 (Link to this contribution) I begin by associating my right hon. and hon. Friends with the initial comments of the Foreign Secre...
Bob Ainsworth | 474 c126-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman said what he said. He said that he did not want an inquiry to learn the lessons s...
Bob Ainsworth | 474 c125-6 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to hon. Gentlemen in a minute. The right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks, with all ...
Lord Howard of Lympne | 474 c126 (Link to this contribution) What I said was that that was the only reason why the Government were not prepared to hold an inquir...
Bob Ainsworth | 474 c126 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Gentleman gave his reasons for wanting an inquiry, and they were pretty c...
Robert Marshall-Andrews | 474 c126 (Link to this contribution) I did indeed say that I wanted an inquiry to reveal who was responsible for what has happened in Ira...
Bob Ainsworth | 474 c125 (Link to this contribution) I will give way soon. About 4,000 members of the British armed forces are currently based in souther...
Speaker | 474 c125 (Link to this contribution) Order. We must have order. Will the right hon. Gentleman give way to the hon. Member for Louth and H...
Bob Ainsworth | 474 c124 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman was probably there, but I will not give way to him. [Hon. Members: ““ Give way.””...
Speaker | 474 c125 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Member for Louth and Horncastle knows how generous I am to him, but the Minister wil...
Bob Ainsworth | 474 c125 (Link to this contribution) No, I am not giving way. I will give way to the hon. Gentleman in a short while, so that he can exte...
Bob Ainsworth | 474 c124 (Link to this contribution) And the commission said, in terms, that it felt it would be wrong for it to look into ““current oper...
Keith Simpson | 474 c124 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister, a member of the parliamentary breakfast club. I thank him very much, ...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 474 c120 (Link to this contribution) Of course, I have been extraordinarily constant on this issue. I publicly dissociated myself from th...
Tobias Ellwood | 474 c118-9 (Link to this contribution) It will take me just three minutes to put together what I would like to say. I am one of those peopl...
Bob Ainsworth | 474 c123-4 (Link to this contribution) We have had a good and passionate debate. It has covered well trodden ground, and I contend that the...
David Lidington | 474 c121-3 (Link to this contribution) I agree completely. The weakness of the Government's case can be analysed in this way. First, the ca...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 474 c121 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that if we consider the contributions that have been made to the debat...
David Lidington | 474 c120-1 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has been constant on this issue; I doubt whether many of his constituents would b...
Paul Keetch | 474 c116 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for missing the first minute of the hon. Gentleman's speech. I hope he is not taking the...
Angus Robertson | 474 c115-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has been in the Chamber for only the smallest part of our proceedings today, but ...
Angus Robertson | 474 c116 (Link to this contribution) Although he was sitting in front of me, the hon. Gentleman obviously did not listen to what I said j...
Jim Sheridan | 474 c115 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Angus Robertson | 474 c114 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to confirm that the Scottish National party will continue to co-operate with members of a...
Jim Sheridan | 474 c115 (Link to this contribution) In expressing his concern for British troops, will the hon. Gentleman take the opportunity to remind...
Jeremy Corbyn | 474 c114 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Jeremy Corbyn | 474 c114 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. I am a bit of a recidivist on this, so I will once again ...
Angus Robertson | 474 c114 (Link to this contribution) I will give way, as the hon. Gentleman might not get the chance to speak.
Angus Robertson | 474 c113 (Link to this contribution) I want to make some progress in order to give other Members time to speak. I will therefore decline ...
Angus Robertson | 474 c113 (Link to this contribution) My goodness, we know how threadbare the Government's case is on Iraq when the only Back-Bench speake...
Speaker | 474 c112-3 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before I call the next speaker, may I tell hon. Members that we are planning to start the win...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 474 c110-2 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Reigate (Mr. Blunt), who spoke lucidly and forcefully...
Crispin Blunt | 474 c110 (Link to this contribution) If the Minister will forgive me, I have about 20 seconds left, and I will not get any extra time as ...
Bob Ainsworth | 474 c110 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Crispin Blunt | 474 c107-9 (Link to this contribution) I agree. The Government's arguments are manifestly absurd; in respect of time scale, they are like r...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 474 c106 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman said that we are now in Iraq on a different basis, and he is absolutely correct. ...
Crispin Blunt | 474 c106 (Link to this contribution) I shall make a little progress, if the hon. Gentleman will allow me. From a sedentary position, the...
Frank Cook | 474 c103-4 (Link to this contribution) I intended my remarks to be short, and I shall still try to keep them brief. I should like to take ...
Robert Marshall-Andrews | 474 c104 (Link to this contribution) I have been listening to my hon. Friend with considerable respect. I respect what he says, but if we...
Frank Cook | 474 c104-5 (Link to this contribution) Like any sensible inquiry, it would commence once there had been a cessation of hostilities. Cessati...
Sammy Wilson | 474 c105 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate many of the points that the hon. Gentleman is making, but given the tenacity of terrori...
Frank Cook | 474 c105 (Link to this contribution) I take the hon. Gentleman's point. With Bloody Sunday, it was 30 years. We did not have an inquiry i...
Crispin Blunt | 474 c105 (Link to this contribution) It is always a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Stockton, North (Frank Cook). He has long take...
Tobias Ellwood | 474 c105 (Link to this contribution) One of the reasons why we need an inquiry into Iraq is surely that al-Qaeda was not in Iraq when we ...
Crispin Blunt | 474 c105-6 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. There have been many brilliant speeches in the debate and I d...
Paul Keetch | 474 c98-100 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman reminds me that it was Lady Eden who said that, and I am grateful to him for once...
Edward Leigh | 474 c100 (Link to this contribution) What was very apparent at the time, and what motivated many of us who voted against the war, was tha...
Paul Keetch | 474 c98 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. and learned Member for Medway (Mr. Marshall-Andrews), who made a...
Paul Keetch | 474 c100-1 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman mentions, that is exactly what the Red Cross says. I think that the aftermath ...
Paul Keetch | 474 c100 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is indeed right, and I was going to mention the fact that in the weeks after the ...
Paul Keetch | 474 c102 (Link to this contribution) Not every Conservative, and I certainly pay tribute to those who were not. I want to make two more ...
Sammy Wilson | 474 c102 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that bizarre arguments were made in the Chamber by the two Back-Bench ...
Lynne Jones | 474 c88 (Link to this contribution) It was mentioned in the state of the union address, but shortly afterwards a withdrawal was made. Th...
Ian Gibson | 474 c89 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend also consider the possibility of examining the cost of war—the sustained amount ...
Lynne Jones | 474 c89-90 (Link to this contribution) With respect, that is not a matter relating to the inquiry. I merely make the point that had the res...
Robert Marshall-Andrews | 474 c96-7 (Link to this contribution) I respectfully agree. The right hon. Gentleman has conveniently taken my next words from my mouth, b...
Humfrey Malins | 474 c97 (Link to this contribution) I support the hon. and learned Gentleman's argument with all the strength that I can muster, but may...
Speaker | 474 c90 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am afraid that the hon. Lady's time is up.
Malcolm Rifkind | 474 c90-4 (Link to this contribution) I commend the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Lynne Jones) on her moving comments and clear i...
Robert Marshall-Andrews | 474 c94-5 (Link to this contribution) May I say straightaway what an irrepressible joy and pleasure it is to follow not just the person bu...
Charles Kennedy | 474 c96 (Link to this contribution) I am motivated by what the hon. and learned Gentleman is saying. If I say the words Tim Razzall, cri...
Speaker | 474 c85 (Link to this contribution) Order. I realise that the hon. Gentleman has a very interesting incident to relate, but perhaps it i...
Peter Tapsell | 474 c85 (Link to this contribution) I can show that it is relevant. When I reached the not insubstantial comforts of the Drake hotel, wh...
Lynne Jones | 474 c87-8 (Link to this contribution) I am aware of that. I was unable to support the previous motion at the time, because I felt it was p...
Tobias Ellwood | 474 c88 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to the hon. Lady. Can she complete this study on the uranium, or yellow cak...
Lynne Jones | 474 c86-7 (Link to this contribution) It is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for Louth and Horncastle (Sir Peter Tapsell), and I must...
Angus Robertson | 474 c87 (Link to this contribution) It might be helpful if the hon. Lady and other Labour Members who are considering voting for the inq...
Stephen Pound | 474 c85 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Peter Tapsell | 474 c85-6 (Link to this contribution) No, I must conclude. The extraordinary thing about Iraq was that it was the one country in the midd...
Speaker | 474 c85 (Link to this contribution) Order. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will now relate his remarks to the motion that the Opposition have...
Peter Tapsell | 474 c85 (Link to this contribution) The American people were so shocked by the attack that President Bush felt that he had to find an en...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c43 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris), who has been so persi...
Lynne Jones | 474 c41 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Gentleman. While I am in favour of an inquiry, and I do not accept the Govern...
Jo Swinson | 474 c74 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Lady has been a tireless campaigner and I respect the fact that she has been consiste...
Ed Davey | 474 c67 (Link to this contribution) If I had understood the logic behind the hon. Gentleman's argument, I would answer his intervention....
David Lidington | 474 c119-20 (Link to this contribution) This has been a significant debate, in terms both of the passion and quality of the speeches by Memb...
Bernard Jenkin | 474 c57 (Link to this contribution) Will the Foreign Secretary give way?
Mike Gapes | 474 c44 (Link to this contribution) Can we get back to the terms of the right hon. Gentleman's motion? It refers to"““the period leading...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c40 (Link to this contribution) If the motion were carried, it would amount to Parliament's insisting on such an inquiry. The hon. G...
David Miliband | 474 c61 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend says, from a sedentary position, something about what the Butler saw; I think that th...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c45-6 (Link to this contribution) No, I do not agree with that. I want to set out the case for commencing an inquiry, now or very shor...
Simon Burns | 474 c46 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend accept that, when James Baker and the other wise men carried out their inq...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 474 c46 (Link to this contribution) I fundamentally disagree with the hon. Gentleman about that. I do not think that we should shy away ...
Simon Hughes | 474 c40 (Link to this contribution) Given that discussions on Privy Council terms with leaders of his party and other parties took place...
Gordon Prentice | 474 c83 (Link to this contribution) Would we learn nothing from the cross-examination of Tony Blair? During the Hutton inquiry, the Prim...
Speaker | 474 c81 (Link to this contribution) Order. Will Members note that the usual rules of debate apply in the Chamber?
Mike Gapes | 474 c73 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend knows, because she has been involved in the campaign longer than me, that we ha...
Paul Keetch | 474 c102 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. The right hon. and learned Member for Kensington and Chelsea...
Alan Simpson | 474 c117-8 (Link to this contribution) A number of right hon. and hon. Members were not in the House on 18 March 2003, when we were able to...
Robert Marshall-Andrews | 474 c97-8 (Link to this contribution) That is undoubtedly right. Indeed, beside that decision, all our other achievements and deficiencies...
Subjects
Armed forces Armed conflict Deployment Inquiries Intelligence services Iraq Military alliances Terrorism Security Iraq conflict
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