PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION ON THE UK GOVERNMENT CLAIM THAT IRAQ SOUGHT TO PROCURE URANIUM FROM AFRICA

That this House notes with concern the refusal of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to answer Parliamentary Question 182618 of 8th July put by the honourable Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak on whether signals intelligence picked up by GCHQ concerning a visit by an Iraqi official to Niger was passed on to the International Atomic Energy Agency, instead stating that 'it would not be appropriate to comment publicly on the detail of this intelligence reporting'; notes that no detail was being requested in this question; is perplexed because previous parliamentary questions asking what information has been passed to the IAEA by the United Kingdom Government have been answered by Foreign Office ministers; calls upon the Foreign Secretary to make it known to the House whether the GCHQ intelligence in question was passed to the IAEA; further notes that since 6th May in response to other parliamentary questions regarding the claim in the Government's September 2002 Dossier, Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction that Iraq had attempted to procure significant quantities of uranium from Africa, PQs 170513, 171178, 173387, 175478, 175493 and 175494, the Foreign Secretary has refused to answer, referring to the fact that Lord Butler of Brockwell is conducting a review; believes that by referring to the Butler Review instead of answering parliamentary questions, the Government is replacing parliamentary accountability with a secret inquiry on these matters; and suggests to the Foreign Secretary that by his uncooperative actions he is undermining the House's rightful role of scrutinising the policies and actions of ministers.