IRAQ INQUIRY MUST BE SUBJECT TO PARLIAMENT NOT PM

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.”