SNP RESTATE DEMAND FOR IRAQ INQUIRY.

SNP RESTATE DEMAND FOR IRAQ INQUIRY.

Following a statement by the Prime Minister on withdrawal of forces from Iraq, SNP Westminster leader and Defence spokesperson, Angus Robertson MP, has restated calls for the UK Government to set out a timetable for a full inquiry into the Iraq war.

Mr Robertson, who visited Iraq in October, said:

”Now that there is a timetable for withdrawing our forces, there is no reason why we cannot have a timetable for an inquiry.

”We must learn the lessons from the worst UK Foreign policy decision in living memory. Our brave troops have had to pay the price of an illegal conflict forced by Tony Blair, paid for by Gordon Brown and supported by the Tories.

”The consequences of this failure is the current morass in Afghanistan, because the focus shifted at a key time to Iraq.

”Those responsible have never answered the most fundamental questions about why we were led into this war.

“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.

“As an MP representing a military constituency, nobody supports our brave forces more than I do.

”However, the UK Government that put our troops in the face of danger must not be above question, and today, the families of those who have paid with their lives, those people who protested, and all of us who are paying for it, still demand and deserve answers.”