Report of the Iraq Inquiry

I suspect that right hon. and hon. Members would have been dismayed if they had not had an opport...

The Government are refusing to release confidential advice that Whitehall officials gave to Gordo...

The Government, in considering this report, will look at all these matters, but that is not the a...

With respect, that is precisely my question. The Information Tribunal has ordered the release of ...

The point I am making is that Sir John himself identifies not the lack of remit, but the lack of ...

The Foreign Secretary will have seen the comments of Robin Butler before publication of the Chilc...

The point that I have made already and will make again is that as I understand it Sir John has no...

Obviously, John Chilcot’s report is masterful in its description of the formal records and the de...

My reading of the inquiry report is that it does indeed identify that regime change as an objecti...

I hope I may be able to assist the Foreign Secretary, although whether he will regard it like tha...

I am sure the House is grateful to the right hon. Lady for giving that insight from the frontline...

Let me just bring the Secretary of State back for a second to the point about regime change. Does...

It goes without saying that Ministers—indeed, all Members—should be completely truthful in their ...

I hear what the Foreign Secretary says about processes, but does he judge that the post-war recon...

I think the two things are completely different. In Iraq at the end of the war, Britain was a joi...

I think that the Foreign Secretary’s last comment was particularly complacent. Looking at, for ex...

The Attorney General’s office is of course filled with expert lawyers. The Attorney General produ...

It is important to note, is it not, that when sofa government takes place, officials from the Gov...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is one of the purposes of a more formal process of decis...

If this is the Foreign Secretary’s last appearance at the Dispatch Box in his current role, he ha...

I will repeat what I actually said. I am confident that many of the most important lessons identi...

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for that, because it is important to emphasise that the...

Is my hon. Friend aware of an attempt to get the House to consider a contempt motion against Tony...

That is a serious point, and I hope that Members will consider it. The question is whether the Ho...

The hon. Lady has pre-empted what I was about to say. It seems somewhat strange that some Members...

I always get very worried when I agree so thoroughly with the right hon. and learned Gentleman, b...

Instead of worrying about agreeing with Government Members, should the hon. Lady not be worrying ...

Chilcot considered those notes and statements over a long period. Sir John Chilcot is a man of gr...

Is it the hon. Lady’s position that someone can be found in contempt of this House only if they a...

No. What I am saying is that there are standards that we have always upheld. For example, I belie...

In that case, will the hon. Lady tell us in which court the former Prime Minister could be tried?...

I appreciate that there is speculation about what may or may not happen to the former Prime Minis...

The hon. Lady is completely wrong in her analysis of how the NSC approached the strategic defence...

I spent only six months in the area of defence, but although I spent a great deal of time immersi...

The hon. Lady is being generous in giving way. However, once again, she is wrong. The most senior...

The right hon. Gentleman has had his opportunity to put his views on the record, and I am sure th...

As one of the Defence Ministers at the time, let me say that it was a most unpleasant experience,...

We are moving a long way from the lessons that need to be drawn from Chilcot, and if I may, I wil...

Does the hon. Lady acknowledge that there is at least an argument that to use the whipping system...

There is continuing debate about the matter. As long as we can be confident that a decision made ...

I am grateful for the hon. Lady’s strategic lesson in the modern combat capability of Her Majesty...

It is important that we look to tomorrow’s problems. Special forces are likely to be used increas...

It is important to point out that the oversight that the Intelligence and Security Committee, pro...

I am grateful to the Foreign Secretary for making that point. I do not expect special forces, bef...

The hon. Lady speaks of the special relationship, and I would be the first to acknowledge that th...

I am sure that some American generals were disappointed that Harold Wilson would not agree to Bri...

rose —

I am sorry but the hon. Gentleman has already intervened twice. I am taking a very long time, and...

First, the intervention in Libya was at the request of the Arab League, which I suggest would hav...

It is interesting to hear what the right hon. Gentleman says, but that issue is one of speculatio...

When I was in government I had some involvement in the Libyan intervention, and from memory I do ...

I hear what the right hon. and learned Gentleman says, but my point is that, again, information w...

I am not sure whether the hon. Lady has said anything about Chilcot’s findings on the circumstanc...

Tempting though it is to debate that issue with the hon. and learned Lady, it is important to not...

The decision to invade Iraq was the most disastrous foreign policy decision taken by this country...

rose—

I will give way briefly to the hon. Lady, but I am not on the Front Bench and cannot keep on givi...

I am grateful to the right hon. and learned Gentleman for giving way and agree with him on the da...

I certainly did not rise to defend Tony Blair, but he is not the first politician to make a mista...

Order. The House must come to order. The right hon. and learned Gentleman has made it perfectly p...

Mr Speaker, I have already spent more time than I intended to on Tony Blair. Members who wish to ...

Two months .

Two months, says my right hon. Friend. They delayed the invasion to give the British more time to...

Will my right hon. and learned Friend give way?

I am sorry, but I do not have the time.

I shall not go on by adding more to the strictures ...

The parliamentary wounds of the Iraq war are still pertinent in today’s debate, but we should rem...

Does Chilcot not also say that that form of government should be described as a “professional for...

I am dealing with the findings of Chilcot—

So am I.

The report states:

“The Inquiry considers that there should have been a collective discussi...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I have answered the hon. Gentleman’s question. If he will let me continue, perhaps I will give wa...

In paragraph 402—

Order. We cannot conduct debate with people yelling from a sedentary position in a disorderly man...

If the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Steve McCabe) had been able to give evidence to Chi...

The fact is that Libya was already in a brutal civil war before western air forces prevented Gadd...

As the hon. Member for Nottingham North (Mr Allen) says from a sedentary position, I probably wou...

rose —

If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I want to make my speech.

My point was about the les...

It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond) and my right hon. and ...

Does my right hon. and learned Friend really think that the Attorney General met all his duties? ...

I quote from paragraph 810 of the executive summary:

“It is an essential part of the legal ...

I would like to explore this with the right hon. and learned Gentleman. I am not quite clear in w...

It depends, I suppose, on what sanction this House wishes to follow. However, there is a second i...

The right hon. and learned Gentleman knows that I hold his legal expertise in the highest regard....

I have listened to the hon. and learned Lady, and this matter can be debated or discussed at grea...

I want to begin where the right hon. and learned Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve), who has jus...

The right hon. Lady said that we did not know at the time. However, on 15 March 2002, the JIC sai...

I am familiar with the insistence that, in some way, this is hugely important. That is not the im...

Will the right hon. Member give way?

No.

No attempt to read that into the record can possibly be justified. We did not know it t...

The right hon. Lady will find, as she peruses the report, that Chilcot found it much more signifi...

It would be better to ask my former colleague. However, having been the recipient of Jack Straw’s...

I thank the right hon. Lady for so graciously giving way. The Chilcot report contains a quote fro...

I know about the quote from Sir Richard Dearlove and I know that he expressed that view, as I rec...

Does the right hon. Lady fully understand the significance of chapter 20 in the executive summary...

I realised that that was what it meant. I was under the impression—I may be mistaken; unlike many...

I am sorry to have to announce this to the House, but on account of the number of would-be contri...

It is a privilege to follow the right hon. Member for Derby South (Margaret Beckett), although I ...

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

I do not have time. Oh, I will give way.

I had it in mind that my right hon. Friend would get a bit more time.

Does my right hon. Fr...

That is exactly right. That should have been the stance that Mr Blair took, but he did not. He ch...

For those of us who took that fateful decision on 18 March 2003, the Chilcot report makes difficu...

I endorse 100% the thanks and the tribute that the right hon. Gentleman has just paid to DFID off...

I freely acknowledge that one of the failures, which is set out clearly in the report, was the fa...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I am going to bring my remarks to a conclusion, because so many others wish to speak.

As a ...

Order. I am trying to accommodate as many colleagues as possible, and after the next speaker it w...

It is a pleasure, as always, to follow the right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn), who...

My brother served in both Gulf wars. The right hon. Gentleman has talked about sofa government an...

The hon. Gentleman makes a point about the absolute importance of having proper accountable struc...

The decision to go to war is undoubtedly the most difficult one that any Prime Minister, leader o...

On 18 March 2003, Mr Blair told the House of Commons that he judged the possibility of terrorist ...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for North Thanet (Sir Roger Gale). I echo the comments...

rose —

I will not give way to the hon. Lady because I have very limited time.

It seemed to me that...

It is always a great pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Knowsley (Mr Howarth).

I ...

I was a Member of this House when we heard the former Prime Minister present his compelling case....

Weapons of mass destruction were held to be a vital part of the justification for war. The Chilco...

My hon. Friend may correct me if I am wrong, but I recall Hans Blix repeatedly saying that he nee...

That is correct. I want to read from Hansard what I said on 24 September 2002, not in any sense t...

I start by paying tribute to all who served in the forces in Iraq, especially those, and the fami...

I am following the hon. Gentleman’s remarks very carefully. Does he accept that many of us here d...

I said earlier that, clearly, mistakes were made after the invasion. But let us be honest; the ch...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I will not give way, because other people want to speak.

Tony Blair’s critics on the ha...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I will not give way. Of course we must learn the lessons from Iraq, but let us make sure we l...

I declare an interest in this report because I served in the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, and ...

It is a pleasure to follow the very passionate speech by the hon. Member for Tonbridge and Mallin...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will not be giving way.

The publication of the Chilcot report last week was a vindication...

It is a pleasure to take part in this debate. I want to look at two elements: first, the legal re...

I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s speech, but does he accept that what was then a politically exp...

Because of the delay and the realisation that this was going to be a major conflict—an invasion o...

I remember the events that we are discussing very well. They took place during my second Parliame...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Steve McCabe), a colleague ...

As my right hon. Friend the Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond) said earlier, Sir John Chilcot’s ext...

No one doubts that Saddam was a brutal tyrant, but few would now dispute that the Iraq invasion w...

I have visited Iraq recently, and I visited a country in economic meltdown because of the ongoing...

Order. My apologies to the hon. Lady, but I should have done her the courtesy of telling her what...

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am going through my speech quickly.

Where is the collective grief?...

I rise today to speak on behalf of the family of Sapper Robert Thompson. He was a 22-year-old Roy...

On Remembrance Day 2007 I attended a ceremony in Glenrothes that none of us ever thought we would...

I, too, want to confine my observations to the lack of military planning and the lack of equipmen...

We now know that the decision to go to war in Iraq was wrong—not just flawed but utterly wrong. T...

Order. Before I put the Question, I thank colleagues for their stoicism and their succinctness. I...