Secret Iraq Inquiry Is Insult To Democracy - Teather

1.48.44pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 25th Jun 2009

Sarah Teather wants a full public inquiry into the Iraq war

Liberal Democrat Brent East MP Sarah Teather has condemned the government's attempts to hold a secret inquiry into the Iraq war, and last night was Brent's only MP to vote for a full public investigation.

Sarah has been a vigorous campaigner against Labour's invasion of Iraq, and in 2003 marched alongside two million others to protest against military action. Since being elected to parliament Sarah has pushed for a full investigation into the war which, at a cost of £7.8 billion to the UK taxpayer, has killed 179 British soldiers and up to 98,133 innocent Iraqi civilians.

On June 15th the government announced an inquiry largely to be held in secret, and to be conducted by a clutch of grandees hand-picked by the Prime Minister.

Local Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East Sarah Teather said:

"Gordon Brown's attempts to appoint his friends to run an inquiry behind closed doors is an insult to the many people in Brent who remain deeply angry about the Iraq war. It's like allowing someone accused of a crime to hand pick their own judge and jury, before sealing off the doors of the courtroom.

"The Labour party teamed up with George Bush to launch an illegal invasion in our name. The devastating impact of Labour's warmongering has been the needless deaths of thousands of innocent people, with the British taxpayer picking up a bill running into billions of pounds.

"I will never forget the day I marched with thousands of others through London to protest at a war which was deeply and fundamentally wrong. It is critical to make sure that such an appalling foreign policy mistake can never happen again. This is why Labour owe the country a full and transparent public inquiry, not a white wash.

"I was proud to vote for the Iraq inquiry to be held in public and under terms set by parliament, rather than a discredited Labour government. It is deeply cynical for the Prime Minister to sacrifice openness and transparency simply to avoid having to answer difficult questions about his own role in the man made tragedy of Iraq."

Related Link:

Motion for a full public inquiry into Iraq.