Iraq strategy is "in ruins" - Menzies Campbell

7.15.07pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 24th Oct 2006

Responding to Tony Blair's comments that Britain intends 'to hold its nerve' in Iraq, Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Menzies Campbell said:"Surely Parliament should now be allowed to debate whether we stay or go. The Government owes that to the House of Commons but most of all to the British people."

Sir Menzies, who said the US elections were prompting a close analysis of the US-Iraq policy, said: "I think the strategy has failed. The prime minister and the president of the United States are the only two people who say it hasn't."

Speaking today in her ward, Bethnal Green North, Liberal Democrat group leader, Cllr Stephanie Eaton commented: "The Iraq situation is highly complex, and Sir Menzies has rightly called for a debate in parliament. The debate will be welcomed by all the people in Tower Hamlets who protested against the war with the Liberal Democrats in 2003, and who are concerned about the effects of the conflict on Iraqi civilians and infrastructure."

By invading Iraq, the Government created a moral obligation and strategic imperative to work towards the reconstruction and stabilisation of Iraq. Liberal Democrats have supported this process which has been conducted with courage and commitment by British and other forces, as well as foreign office, international development and non-governmental personnel. But we must recognise that this commitment cannot be open-ended, and that despite progress in some areas, the current strategy is not succeeding.