Conservatives change tack on Iraq war

The first act of a Conservative government will be to launch a full inquiry into the war in Iraq, the party's foreign affairs spokesperson has promised.

The announcement was made by shadow foreign secretary, William Hague in his speech to the Conservative Party’s annual conference in Birmingham.

He called on ministers "to establish a full privy council inquiry into the origins and conduct of the war so that all can learn from its mistakes and apply the lessons as soon as possible."

He continued: "I make it clear today that if they do not establish such an inquiry, one of the first acts of a Conservative government will be to do so.”

Having supported the government in going to war when the conflict began in March 2003, Mr Hague sought to justify the Conservatives' new policy on Iraq.

"We supported the decision to remove Saddam Hussein, but we all know that an occupation of Iraq that was better conceived and implemented could have spared so much of the agony and bloodshed of the last five years."

This is not the first time the Tories have called for a fresh inquiry. In March 2008, the House of Commons voted against such a motion with the foreign secretary David Milliband acknowledging the allies' mission had not yet been "accomplished.”

Mr Milliband claimed that the government supported learning the lessons from the war but that it was a not the right time to launch an inquiry.

"The dispute between us does not concern substance but timing. The opposition have said the time is now. Given reports from Basra today most people would see that as a bizarre choice of priority now."

These concerns regarding the timing were strengthened and echoed by questions on relevance and the expected cost of such an investigation raised by other government officials.

Responding to Mr Hague's announcement, Labour MP Doug Henderson said: “Does he not share my worries about holding an inquiry at this stage, in that if it indicted the government on the reasons for their entry into the war and how it was conducted, it would leave our troops currently in Iraq in a very vulnerable position, both militarily and politically?”

Two independent inquiries have already been conducted into specific elements of the case for the invasion of Iraq: the Butler Review of intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and the Hutton Inquiry on the circumstances leading to the death of Dr David Kelly.

The war in Iraq, which is almost five and a half years old, has caused 176 British military fatalities to date.