IRAQ INQUIRY MUST BE SUBJECT TO PARLIAMENT NOT PM

Gordon Brown has been accused of ‘making the terms of the Iraq war inquiry up as he goes along’, after u-turning on whether evidence would be held in public or private, and over concerns that the inquiry will not take evidence under oath, make conclusions that apportion blame or report until after the next General Election.

SNP Westminster leader and Defence spokesperson, Angus Robertson MP, said the terms of reference for the inquiry should be subject to parliament and not the prime minister.

The SNP have led demands for an inquiry into the Iraq war, and secured the first substantive debate in October 2006 – at that time the vote was narrowly lost by just 25 votes – with 12 Labour rebels. It was backed by all Tories and Liberal Democrats.

Mr Robertson said:

“Gordon Brown seems to be making the terms of the inquiry up as he goes along, and he must stop trying to pull the strings

“Last week we were told it would be held in private, now it is to be heard partially in public but will not take evidence under oath, make conclusions that apportion blame nor will it report until after the next general election.

“The whole point of an inquiry is to get to the truth about the Iraq war. People want an open and honest inquiry, not some establishment stitch-up – and the terms of the Chilcot inquiry should be subject to parliament and not the prime minister. Similarly the timetable should be taken out of Gordon Brown’s hands – and we must have an interim report in advance of the Westminster elections.

“When the inquiry finally reports, there should be no doubt left in peoples minds or questions remaining – that is why we must get the terms of the inquiry absolutely right.

“By every measurement the Iraq war has been the biggest foreign policy disaster in modern times, and those responsible for it have never answered the most fundamental questions about why we were led into this mess.

“The claim that the war was about weapons of mass destruction was a blatant lie, a mere cover story unsupported by the facts, which has cost the lives of thousands of civilians and hundreds of our brave soldiers.”

ONLY FULL AND OPEN INQUIRY WILL GIVE ANSWERS OVER IRAQ

SNP Westminster Leader and Defence Spokesperson, Angus Robertson MP, has welcomed concessions to greater transparency in the inquiry into the Iraq war granted by the Prime Minster today (Thursday) but warned that anything short of total transparency would be inadequate.

Gordon Brown’s back down comes as former PM, Sir John Major and Lord Butler both publicly criticised the UK Government’s intention to hold the inquiry behind closed doors.

The SNP have led demands for an inquiry into the Iraq war, and secured the first substantive debate on the matter in October 2006 – at that time the vote was narrowly lost by just 25 votes – with 12 Labour rebels. It was backed by all Tories and Liberal Democrats.

Mr Robertson said:

“This is no time for the dithering we have come to expect from the Prime Minister.

“The claim that the war was about weapons of mass destruction was a blatant lie - a mere cover story unsupported by the facts - which has cost the lives of thousands of civilians and hundreds of our brave soldiers.

“Service personnel, families who lost loved ones in Iraq , those people who protested against the war, and all of us who are paying for it need an explanation as to exactly how and why the Labour Government led us into this illegal conflict. Only a full and open inquiry will provide this.

“We must learn the lessons from the worst UK Foreign policy decision in living memory and this can only be done through an open investigation.

“The SNP have been pressing for years on this issue, and will continue to push until the full story about the events which led to the war in Iraq and the conflict itself are known.”

The Iraq War Inquiry must not be seen as "an establishment stitch-up"

David Cameron today called on the Prime Minister to take steps to ensure the Iraq war inquiry is not seen as "an establishment stitch-up".

With no public sessions planned, and with the Inquiry itself not due to report back until after the next General Election, David said people may conclude that the Government want to ensure that they do not have to "face up to any inconvenient conclusions".

He went on to raise questions over the range of people conducting the Inquiry, pointing out that the military experience is limited and that senior politicians "from all sides of the political divide" are not currently included.

David also said it was "extraordinary" that the Prime Minister has said the inquiry "should try to avoid apportioning blame".

Referring to the Franks inquiry that followed the Falklands war, David said:

"Before the Franks Inquiry there was a proper debate on the terms of reference of the Inquiry on a substantive motion in the House of Commons."

And he added:

"This time there's just a statement and no debate. Yet last Wednesday the Prime Minister promised us a new era of Parliamentary accountability and democratic renewal. What happened to that? It hasn't even lasted a week."