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Sarah Teather and Brent Liberal DemocratsWorking Hard for Brent |
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Iraq Inquiry Long Overdue - Teather
December 22, 2008 6:00 PM
Local MP Sarah Teather has been a strong protester against Labour's Iraq war
Local Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East Sarah Teather is calling for a full inquiry into the Iraq war after the Prime Minister announced that troops would be withdrawn by July next year
Sarah has been a vigorous campaigner against Labour's invasion of Iraq, and in 2003 marched alongside 2 million others to protest against military action.
The Liberal Democrats have today published a briefing on the Iraq war showing that:
- 178 British Armed Forces personnel and up to 98,133 Iraqi civilians have been killed, with many more seriously maimed and wounded;
- 4.7 million Iraqis have left their homes, with 9985 applying for asylum in the UK;
- £7.8 billion of taxpayer's money has been spent on military operations in Iraq.
As a Labour Government Whip Brent South MP Dawn Butler will take a leading role in blocking a public inquiry into how the Labour Government took Britain into the war with Iraq. Sarah Teather is the only Brent MP who has voted for an investigation into the war with Iraq. Both Dawn Butler and Barry Gardiner have opposed holding an investigation.
Local Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East Sarah Teather said:
"The news that British troops are being withdrawn from Iraq is to be welcomed, and will be a huge relief to the family and friends of the men and women that were sent there by our Government.
"The people of Britain and Iraq will never forget the fateful day when hundreds of Labour MPs walked through the voting lobby and condemned tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians to their deaths. This was an illegal and immoral war, cooked up by a Labour Government determined to stand alongside George Bush, whatever the devastating consequences.
"Gordon Brown and his party have wreaked unspeakable tragedies on many innocent British and Iraqi families. For the sake of all those who have lost their lives there must be a public inquiry into how this country and its servicemen were taken to war based on tenuous evidence and unsound legal judgments.
"I remain as angry about Iraq as I was on the day when millions of us marched to try and persuade the Labour Government to change their minds. I am proud that the Liberal Democrats are the only party to have consistently spoken out against the invasion and I will continue to push for a full public inquiry to make sure that such horrific actions can never happen again."
Brent Liberal Democrats Spokesperson Cllr Chris Leaman said:
"Brent's Labour MPs cannot distance themselves from this decision. It was their Prime Minister who signed the cheques to pay for the war, and their party who voted it through.
"Dawn Butler should be ashamed of the role she will be taking in blocking a public inquiry into the war with Iraq. People in Brent quite rightly want to know how such awful events were allowed to happen. Once again it shows that Dawn Butler puts Gordon Brown first and the people of Brent second."
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