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Iraq

My Lords, as the person who at the time was the Minister called upon most frequently in this House to defend the Government’s position over the military action in Iraq, I welcome this inquiry. I welcome the opportunity to learn for myself some parts of what went on that maybe were not as clear as they might have been at the time. My noble friend might recall that, at the time of the run-up to the war, I was asked repeatedly in this House about the links to al-Qaeda and to terrorist organisations. At no time did I, as a Minister, say that there were any such links. Indeed, I went out of my way in this House to say that there was no evidence of any such links, even though some of your Lordships thought that the Americans had showed conclusive evidence. I ask my noble friend two questions. Will this inquiry cover the diplomatic exchanges in advance of the military action as they related to our allies, and also as they related to others in the region, such as Iraq’s neighbours? I hope that that will be the case. Will the inquiry also cover the diplomatic exchanges after the invasion in the period when there was a build up to the greater internal violence in Iraq? I think the diplomatic exchanges at that time, between ourselves, the United States and other interested parties, are of the utmost importance as to what happened after the military action was taken and why things went the way they did.