Iraq — Declaration of War — 18 Mar 2003 at 22:00

Marsha Singh MP, Bradford West voted against a motion stating the Government should use all means necessary to ensure the disarmament of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Support for the motion by the majority of MPs led to the UK joining the US invasion of Iraq two days later.

The motion voted through by a majority of MPs agreed that the Government "should use all means necessary to ensure the disarmament of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction".[1]

This resulted in the United Kingdom joining the United States led invasion of Iraq two days later.[2]

A proposed change to this motion saying that This House "believes that the case for war against Iraq has not yet been established" had just been voted down.[3] A number of MPs voted in one and not the other, or voted inconsistently.[4] Earlier in the year, during the build-up to war, there had been three other votes in favour of the Government policy.[5]

The (unusually long - please scroll down for votes) motion itself read:[6]

  • This House
  • notes its decisions of 25th November 2002[7] and 26th February 2003[8] to endorse UN Security Council Resolution 1441;[9]
  • recognises that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and long range missiles, and its continuing non-compliance with Security Council Resolutions, pose a threat to international peace and security;
  • 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;
  • in the event of military operations requires that, on an urgent basis, the United Kingdom should seek a new Security Council Resolution that would affirm Iraq's territorial integrity, ensure rapid delivery of humanitarian relief, allow for the earliest possible lifting of UN sanctions, an international reconstruction programme, and the use of all oil revenues for the benefit of the Iraqi people and endorse an appropriate post-conflict administration for Iraq, leading to a representative government which upholds human rights and the rule of law for all Iraqis; and
  • also welcomes the imminent publication of the Quartet's roadmap[11] as a significant step to bringing a just and lasting peace settlement between Israelis and Palestinians and for the wider Middle East region, and endorses the role of Her Majesty's Government in actively working for peace between Israel and Palestine.

References:

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 (Aye)Minority (No)BothTurnout
Con146 2 (+1 tell)091.4%
DUP5 00100.0%
Independent0 10100.0%
Independent Conservative1 00100.0%
Lab254 (+2 tell) 84 (+1 tell)083.2%
LDem0 52098.1%
PC0 40100.0%
SDLP0 1033.3%
SNP0 50100.0%
UUP6 00100.0%
Total:412 149086.8%

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
Richard BaconSouth NorfolkCon (front bench)no
Douglas HoggSleaford and North HykehamContellno
John RandallUxbridgeConno
Diane AbbottHackney North and Stoke NewingtonLabno
Graham AllenNottingham NorthLabno
John AustinErith and ThamesmeadLabno
Mr Tony BanksWest HamLabno
Mr Harry BarnesNorth East DerbyshireLabno
John BattleLeeds WestLabno
Anne BeggAberdeen SouthLab (minister)no
Mr Andrew BennettDenton and ReddishLabno
Roger BerryKingswoodLabno
Mr Harold BestLeeds North WestLabno
Bob BlizzardWaveneyLabno
Mr Keith BradleyManchester, WithingtonLabno
Mrs Anne CampbellCambridgeLabno
Ronnie CampbellBlyth ValleyLabno
Martin CatonGowerLab (minister)no
David ChaytorBury NorthLabno
Michael ClaphamBarnsley West and PenistoneLabno
Ms Helen ClarkPeterboroughLabno
Mr Tony ClarkeNorthampton SouthLabno
Harry CohenLeyton and WansteadLabno
Michael ConnartyFalkirk EastLab (minister)no
Robin CookLivingstonLabno
Jeremy CorbynIslington NorthLabno
Jim CousinsNewcastle upon Tyne CentralLabno
David CrausbyBolton North EastLab (minister)no
Ann CryerKeighleyLabno
John CryerHornchurchLabno
Mr Tam DalyellLinlithgowLabno
Ian DavidsonGlasgow PollokLab (minister)no
Mr Terry DavisBirmingham, Hodge HillLabno
Mr Hilton DawsonLancaster and WyreLabno
John DenhamSouthampton, ItchenLabno
Jim DobbinHeywood and MiddletonLabno
Clive EffordElthamLab (minister)no
Mark FisherStoke-on-Trent CentralLabno
Paul FlynnNewport WestLabno
George GallowayGlasgow Kelvinwhilst Labno
Neil GerrardWalthamstowLabno
John GroganSelbyLabno
David HamiltonMidlothianLab (minister)no
Doug HendersonNewcastle upon Tyne NorthLabno
David HeyesAshton-under-LyneLab (minister)no
Mr David HinchliffeWakefieldLabno
Kate HoeyVauxhallLabno
Kelvin HopkinsLuton NorthLab (minister)no
Glenda JacksonHampstead and HighgateLabno
Mr Jon Owen JonesCardiff CentralLabno
Lynne JonesBirmingham, Selly OakLabno
Peter KilfoyleLiverpool, WaltonLabno
Mark LazarowiczEdinburgh North and LeithLab (minister)no
Mr Terry LewisWorsleyLabno
Tony LloydManchester CentralLabtellno
Mr Iain LukeDundee EastLabno
Mr John LyonsStrathkelvin and BearsdenLabno
Mrs Alice MahonHalifaxLabno
Dr Jim MarshallLeicester SouthLabno
Robert Marshall-AndrewsMedwayLabno
Chris McCaffertyCalder ValleyLabno
John Martin McDonnellHayes and HarlingtonLabno
Ann McKechinGlasgow MaryhillLab (minister)no
Mr Kevin McNamaraKingston upon Hull NorthLabno
Julie MorganCardiff NorthLabno
Ms Linda PerhamIlford NorthLabno
Gordon PrenticePendleLabno
Gwyn ProsserDoverLabno
Mohammad SarwarGlasgow GovanLabno
Mr Malcolm SavidgeAberdeen NorthLabno
Mr Phil SawfordKetteringLabno
Mr Brian SedgemoreHackney South and ShoreditchLabno
Alan SimpsonNottingham SouthLabno
Marsha SinghBradford WestLabno
Mr Chris SmithIslington South and FinsburyLabno
Mr Llew SmithBlaenau GwentLabno
Mr George StevensonStoke-on-Trent SouthLabno
Gavin StrangEdinburgh East and MusselburghLabno
Graham StringerManchester, BlackleyLab (minister)no
David TaylorNorth West LeicestershireLabno
Jon TrickettHemsworthLab (minister)no
Desmond TurnerBrighton, KemptownLabno
Rudi VisFinchley and Golders GreenLabno
Joan WalleyStoke-on-Trent NorthLab (minister)no
Robert WareingLiverpool, West DerbyLabno
Betty WilliamsConwyLabno
Mike WoodBatley and SpenLabno
Mr Tony WorthingtonClydebank and MilngavieLabno

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