Richard Ottaway, Conservative MP for Croydon South and Member of the
Foreign Affairs Select Committee, has voted against the Foreign Affairs
Select Committee Report on The Decision to go to War in Iraq.
The Select Committee's decision to adopt the Report as a Report of the
Committee was not unanimous. The Committee divided 6-4 in favour of the
published Report.
On the key amendment to leave open the question of Alastair Campbell's
involvement in the publication of the September 2002 Report entitled "Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction" the Committee divided 5-5 and was only
defeated on the Chairman's casting vote.
Richard Ottaway says:-
"While I fully support most of the Report's contents, I could
not agree with the finding that Alastair Campbell played no role in
the inclusion of the 45 minute claim in the September 2002 dossier.
This is simply not proven and therefore far too categorical a conclusion
for the Committee to reach.
Similarly, I cannot agree with the Report's conclusion that Alastair
Campbell did not seek to exert improper influence in the drafting of
the September dossier. The qualification '.. on the basis of the evidence
available..' is a fig leaf covering the refusal of the government to
disclose all the evidence to the Committee.
"Personally, I have reached no conclusion on either point and
continue to have an open mind.
"The Report is wide reaching and detailed. It concludes that the
Government did give undue prominence to the claim that weapons of mass
destruction could be deployed in 45 minutes. It also concludes that
doubts over the claim that Iraq sought the supply of uranium from Africa
should have been made clear. In short, the Government did exaggerate
the case for war.
"The Committee is also highly critical of the publication of the
February 2003 Report (the Dodgy Dossier) and concludes that the Prime
Minister inadvertently misrepresented its status.
"All of this I support and my opposition to the final Report is
not opposition to any of these conclusions. The Dodgy Dossier was a
complete shambles and seriously undermines the credibility of this Government
in the presentation of its policy.
"However, the sticking point is the conclusion of the Labour majority
that Alastair Campbell had no involvement in "sexing-up" the
documents. I make no allegation that he did. We have heard credible
evidence on both sides of the argument. In my judgement the case for
or against him is not proven.
"It is not for the Foreign Affairs Select Committee to act as
the judge and jury in the spat between Mr Campbell and the BBC. To do
so will completely hijack the core of the Committee's conclusions and
obscure its deep criticisms of the Government's handling of the whole
affair.
"In my opinion it is also wrong to single out the BBC alone as
similar allegations have been made by a number of sources.
Minority Report
"With my full support, the following amendment, which goes to
the core of the debate, was tabled by my colleague John Maples MP. The
Committee divided 5 - 5 in the vote on the amendment :
We regret that the substance of all this has become
a very public row between Mr Campbell and the BBC. We are neither
equipped nor willing to arbitrate that dispute, or to come down in
favour of one of the parties. We received very compelling evidence
from Mr Gilligan and from Mr Campbell; Mr Campbell's evidence has,
in important respects, been confirmed by the Foreign Secretary. Without
full access to all the relevant papers and witnesses, which we have
been denied, we do not believe that we or anyone could resolve this
matter satisfactorily.
"It was defeated by the Chairman's casting vote."
"John Maples also tabled, as an amendment, a complete re-write
of the key paragraphs in the Report. It was defeated by the Labour majority
and appears in the record (page 95). This amendment represents the views
of the minority and can be considered to be the Minority's Report.
"It does not do Parliament any good to reach conclusions other
than on the basis of adequate information. There are still serious questions
to be answered both by Mr Campbell and by Mr John Scarlett, the Chairman
of the Joint Intelligence Committee. In my judgement the Committee should
still be entitled to see all the intelligence reports to enable them
to reach a conclusion on this matter.
For further information please call 020 7219 6392.
back
to top