We need an inquiry on Labour's Iraq war

12.00.00am GMT Fri 19th Dec 2008

"The news that British troops are being withdrawn from Iraq is to be welcomed.

"The people of Britain and Iraq will never forget the fateful day when hundreds of Labour MPs walked through the voting lobby and condemned tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians to their deaths. This was an illegal war based on spurious information cooked up by the Labour Government who were determined to follow George Bush at all costs.

"For the sake of all those who have lost their lives there must be a public inquiry into how this Labour Government was able to take this country and its military personnel into a war based on tenuous evidence and unsound legal judgments. Gordon Brown and Edinburgh South's Labour MPs cannot distance themselves from this war it is their party and their Labour Government that have reeked untold tragedies on many innocent families both British and Iraqi.

"I am proud that the Liberal Democrats are the only party that have consistently spoken out against the war. I will continue to push for a public inquiry so that these horrific actions can never be taken again by a Labour Government determined to invade a foreign nation at all costs."

Edinburgh South Labour MP Nigel Griffiths voted against holding an investigation into the war with Iraq.