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Members of Parliament today get a chance to cast vote on the need to set up an inquiry into the conduct of Government policy in relation to the war in Iraq.
The debate is secured in Plaid Cymru and SNP Opposition Day debate, and is supported by a cross party coalition of MPs. The motion concerning the debate is based on Early Day Motion 1088, "Conduct of Government Policy in relation to the war against Iraq" . The EDM and the longer version published in the House of Commons Future Business attracted 164 signatures (including 33 Labour, 60 Conservatives and 59 Liberal Democrats MPs).
Plaid Cymru's Defence spokesperson, Adam Price MP said today:
"Three and a half years on and Iraq is mired in blood, and the shocking figures published recently show that the death toll has reached 655,000. Neither the Hutton nor Butler Inquiries addressed the question if the Parliament and country were misled into this bloody conflict. I believe that it is essential for the credibility of our democracy that we establish what combination of deception, delusion and ineptitude carried us down this fateful path.
"This debate is not about revisiting old ground - it is an urgent attempt to restore the balance of power between Parliament and the Executive; and of the utmost contemporary relevance if we are to prevent such tragedies from happening again. It will probably be the first and last occasion to restore proper accountability of Government."
SNP Leader Alex Salmond said:
"This debate offers MPs a second chance - a chance to re-establish Parliamentary accountability over an executive who has led the country into a bloody quagmire - and a last chance to change strategy and direction on the disastrous course of events in Iraq.
"If this motion carries - or indeed even if it records a substantial shift in opinion since the vote which took us to war - Mr Blair's time in Downing Street will be numbered in days, not weeks or months."
The text of the motion is based on Early Day Motion 1088:
"That this House believes that there should be a select committee of seven honourable Members, being members of Her Majesty's Privy Council, to review the way in which the responsibilities of government were discharged in relation to Iraq and all matters relevant thereto, in the period leading up to military action in that country in March 2003 and in its aftermath."
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