Iraq Statement - 20th March 2003

20th March

I have for a number of months expressed my concerns about going to war with Iraq without a clear moral and international mandate. I am not a pacifist and have voted, with a heavy heart, for military action in the past.

However, I resigned as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) in March so that I could express these fears freely on behalf of my constituents. As a PPS I am bound rules of collective responsibility and whilst I have an issue of conscience on such an important matter I wanted to be free to express my worries and those of the vast majority of constituents. I did not support the government in opposing the amendment on the 26th February that ‘the case for war has not been made.

When I resigned I left without making any press statement or fuss. Indeed I was surprised that 160 media organisations from around the world were interested in my minor change of status. I have not undertaken any interviews on this matter as this is not important compared to the situation in Iraq.

I have continued to voice my concerns at the possibility of unilateral military action and the consequences this would have. But I am in no doubt that Saddam Hussein poses a real threat and must be dealt with, but this is best achieved with international consent via the UN.

However, even though I did not support the drive to war without international backing I feel that it is necessary to give troops the backing they deserve, and to do nothing that undermines their ability to carry out their tasks. I have friends and family who are serving in the Gulf and I know they would expect our support now that a majority in the Commons has backed action.

I will now be channelling my energy into ensuring the military action in the Gulf is proportionate, that the Road Map for peace in the Middle East is not lost; that the humanitarian effort is as effective as possible, and that the UN has a fresh mandate to rebuild Iraq.

I remain committed to serving my constituents as the MP for Loughborough and would like to thank people for the hundreds of letters, emails and calls of support. I realise that the few who felt it necessary to send abusive (usually anonymous) letters and emails have a different point of view, but I have always taken any decision after listening to all sides of the argument and after very careful consideration. I respect the views held by others and I am sure, on reflection, they would respect the views of those who do not agree with their position.

On 18th March I still continued to hope that there was a way of avoiding war using the diplomatic route, however it soon became obvious that this route had been exhausted. Voting on motions which run to several hundred words is always difficult when there is so much you agree with and a little where one disagrees. I took the view at the end of the day not to oppose the amendment, and to support the motion backing the fresh UN mandate, humanitarian aid, and the Road Map to peace in the Middle East.

I do not think that anybody locally is any doubt about the motives behind my principled opposition to unilateral action or why I was prepared to speak out, but I will not be using my energies now to undermine our troops.

-Ends-