Iraq — Case for war not established — rejected — 18 Mar 2003 at 21:15

Marsha Singh MP, Bradford West voted to say that the case for war against Iraq has not yet been established,

The majority of MPs voted against making a change to the motion before Parliament that declared war on Iraq. The intact motion for war was voted through immediately after this amendment was rejected.[1]

The change would have been to replace the sections of the motion which read:[2]

  • This House...
  • notes that in the 130 days since Resolution 1441 was adopted Iraq has not co-operated actively, unconditionally and immediately with the weapons inspectors, and has rejected the final opportunity to comply and is in further material breach of its obligations under successive mandatory UN Security Council Resolutions;
  • regrets that despite sustained diplomatic effort by Her Majesty's Government it has not proved possible to secure a second Resolution in the UN because one Permanent Member of the Security Council made plain in public its intention to use its veto whatever the circumstances;
  • notes the opinion of the Attorney General that, Iraq having failed to comply and Iraq being at the time of Resolution 1441 and continuing to be in material breach, the authority to use force under Resolution 678[10] has revived and so continues today;
  • believes that the United Kingdom must uphold the authority of the United Nations as set out in Resolution 1441 and many Resolutions preceding it, and therefore supports the decision of Her Majesty's Government that the United Kingdom should use all means necessary to ensure the disarmament of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction;
  • offers wholehearted support to the men and women of Her Majesty's Armed Forces now on duty in the Middle East;

with:

  • This House...
  • believes that the case for war against Iraq has not yet been established, especially given the absence of specific United Nations authorisation; but,
  • in the event that hostilities do commence, pledges its total support for the British forces engaged in the Middle East, expresses its admiration for their courage, skill and devotion to duty, and hopes that their tasks will be swiftly concluded with minimal casualties on all sides.

This was one of five major Parliamentary votes for war before the invasion.[3]

Debate in Parliament | Historical Hansard | Source |

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Party Summary

Votes by party, red entries are votes against the majority for that party.

What is Tell? '+1 tell' means that in addition one member of that party was a teller for that division lobby.

What are Boths? An MP can vote both aye and no in the same division. The boths page explains this.

What is Turnout? This is measured against the total membership of the party at the time of the vote.

PartyMajority (No)Minority (Aye)BothTurnout
Con139 15 (+1 tell)095.1%
DUP5 00100.0%
Independent0 10100.0%
Independent Conservative1 00100.0%
Lab245 (+2 tell) 138 (+1 tell)094.1%
LDem0 530100.0%
PC0 40100.0%
SDLP0 1033.3%
SNP0 50100.0%
UUP6 00100.0%
Total:396 217094.8%

Rebel Voters - sorted by party

MPs for which their vote in this division differed from the majority vote of their party. You can see all votes in this division, or every eligible MP who could have voted in this division

Sort by: Name | Constituency | Party | Vote

NameConstituencyPartyVote
Peter AinsworthEast SurreyConaye
Richard BaconSouth NorfolkCon (front bench)aye
Tony BaldryBanburyCon (front bench)aye
John BaronBillericayConaye
Kenneth ClarkeRushcliffeCon (front bench)aye
John GummerSuffolk CoastalCon (front bench)aye
Douglas HoggSleaford and North HykehamContellaye
John HoramOrpingtonConaye
Edward LeighGainsboroughCon (front bench)aye
Humfrey MalinsWokingConaye
Andrew MurrisonWestburyCon (front bench)aye
Mr Richard PageSouth West HertfordshireConaye
John RandallUxbridgeConaye
Mr Jonathan SayeedMid Bedfordshirewhilst Conaye
Ian TaylorEsher and WaltonConaye
Andrew TurnerIsle of WightCon (front bench)aye
Diane AbbottHackney North and Stoke NewingtonLabaye
Graham AllenNottingham NorthLabaye
John AustinErith and ThamesmeadLabaye
Mr Tony BanksWest HamLabaye
Mr Harry BarnesNorth East DerbyshireLabaye
John BattleLeeds WestLabaye
Mr Andrew BennettDenton and ReddishLabaye
Joe BentonBootleLab (minister)aye
Roger BerryKingswoodLabaye
Mr Harold BestLeeds North WestLabaye
Bob BlizzardWaveneyLabaye
Mr Keith BradleyManchester, WithingtonLabaye
Kevin BrennanCardiff WestLab (minister)aye
Karen BuckRegent's Park and Kensington NorthLab (minister)aye
Richard BurdenBirmingham, NorthfieldLab (minister)aye
Mrs Anne CampbellCambridgeLabaye
Ronnie CampbellBlyth ValleyLabaye
Martin CatonGowerLab (minister)aye
David ChaytorBury NorthLabaye
Michael ClaphamBarnsley West and PenistoneLabaye
Ms Helen ClarkPeterboroughLabaye
Tom ClarkeCoatbridge and ChrystonLabaye
Mr Tony ClarkeNorthampton SouthLabaye
Harry CohenLeyton and WansteadLabaye
Mr Iain ColemanHammersmith and FulhamLabaye
Michael ConnartyFalkirk EastLab (minister)aye
Frank CookStockton NorthLabaye
Robin CookLivingstonLabaye
Jeremy CorbynIslington NorthLabaye
Jim CousinsNewcastle upon Tyne CentralLabaye
Mr Tom CoxTootingLabaye
David CrausbyBolton North EastLab (minister)aye
Ann CryerKeighleyLabaye
John CryerHornchurchLabaye
Mr Tam DalyellLinlithgowLabaye
Mrs Valerie DaveyBristol WestLabaye
Ian DavidsonGlasgow PollokLab (minister)aye
Mr Denzil DaviesLlanelliLabaye
Mr Terry DavisBirmingham, Hodge HillLabaye
Mr Hilton DawsonLancaster and WyreLabaye
John DenhamSouthampton, ItchenLabaye
Parmjit DhandaGloucesterLabaye
Jim DobbinHeywood and MiddletonLabaye
Frank DobsonHolborn and St PancrasLabaye
Frank DoranAberdeen CentralLabaye
David DrewStroudLab (minister)aye
Mr Huw EdwardsMonmouthLabaye
Clive EffordElthamLab (minister)aye
Bill EtheringtonSunderland NorthLabaye
Mark FisherStoke-on-Trent CentralLabaye
Paul FlynnNewport WestLabaye
Hywel FrancisAberavonLab (minister)aye
George GallowayGlasgow Kelvinwhilst Labaye
Neil GerrardWalthamstowLabaye
Ian GibsonNorwich NorthLabaye
Roger GodsiffBirmingham, Sparkbrook and Small HeathLabaye
Mr Win GriffithsBridgendLabaye
John GroganSelbyLabaye
Patrick HallBedfordLabaye
David HamiltonMidlothianLab (minister)aye
Fabian HamiltonLeeds North EastLab (minister)aye
Dai HavardMerthyr Tydfil and RhymneyLab (minister)aye
Doug HendersonNewcastle upon Tyne NorthLabaye
Stephen HepburnJarrowLabaye
David HeyesAshton-under-LyneLab (minister)aye
Mr David HinchliffeWakefieldLabaye
Kate HoeyVauxhallLabaye
Jimmy HoodClydesdaleLab (minister)aye
Kelvin HopkinsLuton NorthLab (minister)aye
Joan HumbleBlackpool North and FleetwoodLabaye
Brian IddonBolton South EastLabaye
Eric IllsleyBarnsley CentralLabaye
Glenda JacksonHampstead and HighgateLabaye
Mrs Helen JacksonSheffield, HillsboroughLabaye
Mr Jon Owen JonesCardiff CentralLabaye
Lynne JonesBirmingham, Selly OakLabaye
Martyn JonesClwyd SouthLabaye
David KidneyStaffordLabaye
Peter KilfoyleLiverpool, WaltonLabaye
Mark LazarowiczEdinburgh North and LeithLab (minister)aye
David LepperBrighton, PavilionLabaye
Mr Terry LewisWorsleyLabaye
Tony LloydManchester CentralLabtellaye
Ian LucasWrexhamLab (minister)aye
Mr Iain LukeDundee EastLabaye
Mr John LyonsStrathkelvin and BearsdenLabaye
Mrs Alice MahonHalifaxLabaye
Dr Jim MarshallLeicester SouthLabaye
Robert Marshall-AndrewsMedwayLabaye
Eric MartlewCarlisleLabaye
Chris McCaffertyCalder ValleyLabaye
John Martin McDonnellHayes and HarlingtonLabaye
Ann McKechinGlasgow MaryhillLab (minister)aye
Mr Kevin McNamaraKingston upon Hull NorthLabaye
Mr Tony McWalterHemel HempsteadLabaye
Julie MorganCardiff NorthLabaye
Chris MullinSunderland SouthLabaye
Denis MurphyWansbeckLabaye
Doug NaysmithBristol North WestLabaye
Edward O'HaraKnowsley SouthLabaye
Mrs Diana OrganForest of DeanLabaye
Albert OwenYnys MônLab (minister)aye
Ms Linda PerhamIlford NorthLabaye
Mr Peter PikeBurnleyLabaye
Mr Kerry PollardSt AlbansLabaye
Gordon PrenticePendleLabaye
Gwyn ProsserDoverLabaye
Ken PurchaseWolverhampton North EastLabaye
John RobertsonGlasgow AnnieslandLab (minister)aye
Joan RuddockLewisham, DeptfordLabaye
Martin SalterReading WestLabaye
Mohammad SarwarGlasgow GovanLabaye
Mr Malcolm SavidgeAberdeen NorthLabaye
Mr Phil SawfordKetteringLabaye
Mr Brian SedgemoreHackney South and ShoreditchLabaye
Ms Debra ShipleyStourbridgeLabaye
Alan SimpsonNottingham SouthLabaye
Marsha SinghBradford WestLabaye
Mr Chris SmithIslington South and FinsburyLabaye
Mr Llew SmithBlaenau GwentLabaye
Mr George StevensonStoke-on-Trent SouthLabaye
Gavin StrangEdinburgh East and MusselburghLabaye
Graham StringerManchester, BlackleyLab (minister)aye
David TaylorNorth West LeicestershireLabaye
Jon TrickettHemsworthLab (minister)aye
Paul TruswellPudseyLabaye
Desmond TurnerBrighton, KemptownLabaye
Mr Bill TynanHamilton SouthLabaye
Rudi VisFinchley and Golders GreenLabaye
Joan WalleyStoke-on-Trent NorthLab (minister)aye
Robert WareingLiverpool, West DerbyLabaye
Alan WhiteheadSouthampton, TestLabaye
Alan WilliamsSwansea WestLabaye
Betty WilliamsConwyLabaye
Mike WoodBatley and SpenLabaye
Mr Tony WorthingtonClydebank and MilngavieLabaye
David WrightTelfordLab (minister)aye
Tony WrightCannock ChaseLabaye
Derek WyattSittingbourne and SheppeyLabaye

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