Iraq — Case for war not established — rejected — 18 Mar 2003 at 21:15
Mohammad Sarwar MP, Glasgow Govan 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 |
Public Whip is run as a free not-for-profit service. If you'd like to support us, please
consider switching your (UK) electricity and/or gas to
Octopus Energy or
tip us via Ko-Fi.
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.
Party | Majority (No) | Minority (Aye) | Both | Turnout |
Con | 139 | 15 (+1 tell) | 0 | 95.1% |
DUP | 5 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
Independent | 0 | 1 | 0 | 100.0% |
Independent Conservative | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
Lab | 245 (+2 tell) | 138 (+1 tell) | 0 | 94.1% |
LDem | 0 | 53 | 0 | 100.0% |
PC | 0 | 4 | 0 | 100.0% |
SDLP | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33.3% |
SNP | 0 | 5 | 0 | 100.0% |
UUP | 6 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
Total: | 396 | 217 | 0 | 94.8% |
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
Name | Constituency | Party | Vote |
Peter Ainsworth | East Surrey | Con | aye |
Richard Bacon | South Norfolk | Con (front bench) | aye |
Tony Baldry | Banbury | Con (front bench) | aye |
John Baron | Billericay | Con | aye |
Kenneth Clarke | Rushcliffe | Con (front bench) | aye |
John Gummer | Suffolk Coastal | Con (front bench) | aye |
Douglas Hogg | Sleaford and North Hykeham | Con | tellaye |
John Horam | Orpington | Con | aye |
Edward Leigh | Gainsborough | Con (front bench) | aye |
Humfrey Malins | Woking | Con | aye |
Andrew Murrison | Westbury | Con (front bench) | aye |
Mr Richard Page | South West Hertfordshire | Con | aye |
John Randall | Uxbridge | Con | aye |
Mr Jonathan Sayeed | Mid Bedfordshire | whilst Con | aye |
Ian Taylor | Esher and Walton | Con | aye |
Andrew Turner | Isle of Wight | Con (front bench) | aye |
Diane Abbott | Hackney North and Stoke Newington | Lab | aye |
Graham Allen | Nottingham North | Lab | aye |
John Austin | Erith and Thamesmead | Lab | aye |
Mr Tony Banks | West Ham | Lab | aye |
Mr Harry Barnes | North East Derbyshire | Lab | aye |
John Battle | Leeds West | Lab | aye |
Mr Andrew Bennett | Denton and Reddish | Lab | aye |
Joe Benton | Bootle | Lab (minister) | aye |
Roger Berry | Kingswood | Lab | aye |
Mr Harold Best | Leeds North West | Lab | aye |
Bob Blizzard | Waveney | Lab | aye |
Mr Keith Bradley | Manchester, Withington | Lab | aye |
Kevin Brennan | Cardiff West | Lab (minister) | aye |
Karen Buck | Regent's Park and Kensington North | Lab (minister) | aye |
Richard Burden | Birmingham, Northfield | Lab (minister) | aye |
Mrs Anne Campbell | Cambridge | Lab | aye |
Ronnie Campbell | Blyth Valley | Lab | aye |
Martin Caton | Gower | Lab (minister) | aye |
David Chaytor | Bury North | Lab | aye |
Michael Clapham | Barnsley West and Penistone | Lab | aye |
Ms Helen Clark | Peterborough | Lab | aye |
Tom Clarke | Coatbridge and Chryston | Lab | aye |
Mr Tony Clarke | Northampton South | Lab | aye |
Harry Cohen | Leyton and Wanstead | Lab | aye |
Mr Iain Coleman | Hammersmith and Fulham | Lab | aye |
Michael Connarty | Falkirk East | Lab (minister) | aye |
Frank Cook | Stockton North | Lab | aye |
Robin Cook | Livingston | Lab | aye |
Jeremy Corbyn | Islington North | Lab | aye |
Jim Cousins | Newcastle upon Tyne Central | Lab | aye |
Mr Tom Cox | Tooting | Lab | aye |
David Crausby | Bolton North East | Lab (minister) | aye |
Ann Cryer | Keighley | Lab | aye |
John Cryer | Hornchurch | Lab | aye |
Mr Tam Dalyell | Linlithgow | Lab | aye |
Mrs Valerie Davey | Bristol West | Lab | aye |
Ian Davidson | Glasgow Pollok | Lab (minister) | aye |
Mr Denzil Davies | Llanelli | Lab | aye |
Mr Terry Davis | Birmingham, Hodge Hill | Lab | aye |
Mr Hilton Dawson | Lancaster and Wyre | Lab | aye |
John Denham | Southampton, Itchen | Lab | aye |
Parmjit Dhanda | Gloucester | Lab | aye |
Jim Dobbin | Heywood and Middleton | Lab | aye |
Frank Dobson | Holborn and St Pancras | Lab | aye |
Frank Doran | Aberdeen Central | Lab | aye |
David Drew | Stroud | Lab (minister) | aye |
Mr Huw Edwards | Monmouth | Lab | aye |
Clive Efford | Eltham | Lab (minister) | aye |
Bill Etherington | Sunderland North | Lab | aye |
Mark Fisher | Stoke-on-Trent Central | Lab | aye |
Paul Flynn | Newport West | Lab | aye |
Hywel Francis | Aberavon | Lab (minister) | aye |
George Galloway | Glasgow Kelvin | whilst Lab | aye |
Neil Gerrard | Walthamstow | Lab | aye |
Ian Gibson | Norwich North | Lab | aye |
Roger Godsiff | Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath | Lab | aye |
Mr Win Griffiths | Bridgend | Lab | aye |
John Grogan | Selby | Lab | aye |
Patrick Hall | Bedford | Lab | aye |
David Hamilton | Midlothian | Lab (minister) | aye |
Fabian Hamilton | Leeds North East | Lab (minister) | aye |
Dai Havard | Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney | Lab (minister) | aye |
Doug Henderson | Newcastle upon Tyne North | Lab | aye |
Stephen Hepburn | Jarrow | Lab | aye |
David Heyes | Ashton-under-Lyne | Lab (minister) | aye |
Mr David Hinchliffe | Wakefield | Lab | aye |
Kate Hoey | Vauxhall | Lab | aye |
Jimmy Hood | Clydesdale | Lab (minister) | aye |
Kelvin Hopkins | Luton North | Lab (minister) | aye |
Joan Humble | Blackpool North and Fleetwood | Lab | aye |
Brian Iddon | Bolton South East | Lab | aye |
Eric Illsley | Barnsley Central | Lab | aye |
Glenda Jackson | Hampstead and Highgate | Lab | aye |
Mrs Helen Jackson | Sheffield, Hillsborough | Lab | aye |
Mr Jon Owen Jones | Cardiff Central | Lab | aye |
Lynne Jones | Birmingham, Selly Oak | Lab | aye |
Martyn Jones | Clwyd South | Lab | aye |
David Kidney | Stafford | Lab | aye |
Peter Kilfoyle | Liverpool, Walton | Lab | aye |
Mark Lazarowicz | Edinburgh North and Leith | Lab (minister) | aye |
David Lepper | Brighton, Pavilion | Lab | aye |
Mr Terry Lewis | Worsley | Lab | aye |
Tony Lloyd | Manchester Central | Lab | tellaye |
Ian Lucas | Wrexham | Lab (minister) | aye |
Mr Iain Luke | Dundee East | Lab | aye |
Mr John Lyons | Strathkelvin and Bearsden | Lab | aye |
Mrs Alice Mahon | Halifax | Lab | aye |
Dr Jim Marshall | Leicester South | Lab | aye |
Robert Marshall-Andrews | Medway | Lab | aye |
Eric Martlew | Carlisle | Lab | aye |
Chris McCafferty | Calder Valley | Lab | aye |
John Martin McDonnell | Hayes and Harlington | Lab | aye |
Ann McKechin | Glasgow Maryhill | Lab (minister) | aye |
Mr Kevin McNamara | Kingston upon Hull North | Lab | aye |
Mr Tony McWalter | Hemel Hempstead | Lab | aye |
Julie Morgan | Cardiff North | Lab | aye |
Chris Mullin | Sunderland South | Lab | aye |
Denis Murphy | Wansbeck | Lab | aye |
Doug Naysmith | Bristol North West | Lab | aye |
Edward O'Hara | Knowsley South | Lab | aye |
Mrs Diana Organ | Forest of Dean | Lab | aye |
Albert Owen | Ynys Môn | Lab (minister) | aye |
Ms Linda Perham | Ilford North | Lab | aye |
Mr Peter Pike | Burnley | Lab | aye |
Mr Kerry Pollard | St Albans | Lab | aye |
Gordon Prentice | Pendle | Lab | aye |
Gwyn Prosser | Dover | Lab | aye |
Ken Purchase | Wolverhampton North East | Lab | aye |
John Robertson | Glasgow Anniesland | Lab (minister) | aye |
Joan Ruddock | Lewisham, Deptford | Lab | aye |
Martin Salter | Reading West | Lab | aye |
Mohammad Sarwar | Glasgow Govan | Lab | aye |
Mr Malcolm Savidge | Aberdeen North | Lab | aye |
Mr Phil Sawford | Kettering | Lab | aye |
Mr Brian Sedgemore | Hackney South and Shoreditch | Lab | aye |
Ms Debra Shipley | Stourbridge | Lab | aye |
Alan Simpson | Nottingham South | Lab | aye |
Marsha Singh | Bradford West | Lab | aye |
Mr Chris Smith | Islington South and Finsbury | Lab | aye |
Mr Llew Smith | Blaenau Gwent | Lab | aye |
Mr George Stevenson | Stoke-on-Trent South | Lab | aye |
Gavin Strang | Edinburgh East and Musselburgh | Lab | aye |
Graham Stringer | Manchester, Blackley | Lab (minister) | aye |
David Taylor | North West Leicestershire | Lab | aye |
Jon Trickett | Hemsworth | Lab (minister) | aye |
Paul Truswell | Pudsey | Lab | aye |
Desmond Turner | Brighton, Kemptown | Lab | aye |
Mr Bill Tynan | Hamilton South | Lab | aye |
Rudi Vis | Finchley and Golders Green | Lab | aye |
Joan Walley | Stoke-on-Trent North | Lab (minister) | aye |
Robert Wareing | Liverpool, West Derby | Lab | aye |
Alan Whitehead | Southampton, Test | Lab | aye |
Alan Williams | Swansea West | Lab | aye |
Betty Williams | Conwy | Lab | aye |
Mike Wood | Batley and Spen | Lab | aye |
Mr Tony Worthington | Clydebank and Milngavie | Lab | aye |
David Wright | Telford | Lab (minister) | aye |
Tony Wright | Cannock Chase | Lab | aye |
Derek Wyatt | Sittingbourne and Sheppey | Lab | aye |