---

9 Feb 2004 : Column 1195W—continued

Departmental Minutes

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Prime Minister what action he is taking to ensure that civil servants take full and adequate minutes of meetings involving himself. [152959]

The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to the right hon. Member for North-West Hampshire (Sir George Young) during my evidence to the Liaison Committee on 3 February 2004.

Freedom of Information Act

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Prime Minister if he will implement recommendation 8.1 of the Independent

9 Feb 2004 : Column 1196W

Review of Government Communications, on the use by Ministers of the right of veto with regard to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. [152960]

The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Alexander) on 19 January 2004, Official Report, columns 50–51WS.

Greyhounds (Northern Ireland)

Lady Hermon: To ask the Prime Minister which Minister is responsible for the welfare of racing greyhounds in Northern Ireland; and what proposals there are to include the welfare of greyhounds in forthcoming legislation. [153530]

The Prime Minister: Under the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 all animals are protected from unnecessary cruelty or suffering though there are no specific provisions on the welfare of racing greyhounds. This Act is administered by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland for which the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office (Mr. Pearson) is currently the responsible Minister. There are no proposals to introduce legislation on the welfare of greyhounds in Northern Ireland.

Honours System

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Prime Minister what steps he is taking to improve transparency surrounding the honours system. [152957]

The Prime Minister: The Cabinet Secretary has asked Sir Hayden Phillips to lead a review of the honours system. This review will look at ways in which the system can be made more open and transparent, while maintaining the necessary confidentiality about individuals involved in it. I look forward to receiving their findings.

Hutton Inquiry

Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister what efforts have been made to identify the three additional sources of information within the wider intelligence community mentioned by Mr. Andrew Gilligan in his evidence to the Hutton Inquiry. [153901]

The Prime Minister: Mr. Gilligan's evidence to the Hutton Inquiry is a matter for him.

Iraq

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library the complete report of the Iraq Survey Group. [153081]

The Prime Minister: The report is the responsibility of the United States authorities, specifically the Director of Central Intelligence. Publication of the complete report is a matter for them.

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Prime Minister for what reason, following intelligence assessments by the Joint Intelligence Committee in October and December 2002 and in March 2003, the Government did not support the request by UN inspectors for more time to complete their searches. [153432]

9 Feb 2004 : Column 1197W

The Prime Minister: As I have said previously, Iraq was in material breach of 23 out of 27 obligations set by 9 UN Security Council resolutions over 12 years. The primary objective of UN Security Council resolution 1441 was the disarmament of Iraq and made clear that compliance must be full, unconditional and immediate, including the requirement to co-operate fully with the weapons inspectors.

Iraq ignored that requirement; what co-operation it offered was grudging and partial, and was outweighed by the obstacles it raised to the inspectors' work. In light of this, we concluded that the UN weapons inspectors would never be able to complete the task allocated to them by the Security Council under resolution 1441.

As I made repeatedly clear at the time, the issue was not about time, it was about full co-operation. If the Iraqi regime had been co-operating, the inspectors could have had more time.

And as the evidence from Dr. David Kay to the US Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on Iraqi WMD and related programmes on 28 January 2004 made clear, in his opinion: "All I can say is that among an extensive body of UN—of Iraqi scientists who were talking to us, they have said: "The UN interviewed us. We did not tell them the truth. We did not show them this equipment. We did not talk about these programs. We couldn't do it as long as Saddam was in power." I suspect regardless of how long they had stayed, that attitude would have been the same". Full transcripts of this evidence have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister what efforts have been made by the Government to interview (a) Scott Ritter, (b) Hans Von Sponeck, (c) Denis Halliday and (d) Tun Myat in relation to Iraqi military capabilities and intentions. [153751]

The Prime Minister: The Iraq Survey Group is interviewing anyone who it believes will be able to help its enquiries. It has not interviewed any of these individuals. Any relevant information which they may have had was made available to the United Nations.

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister what arrangements he has put in place to monitor evidence presented to the United States Administration's inquiry into the intelligence on Iraq's military programme. [153897]

The Prime Minister: We shall be monitoring the US inquiry closely.

Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister which hon. and right hon. Members were (a) asked by him to comment on a draft version of the September dossier, (b) given a briefing by Sir John Scarlett in advance of publication and (c) given an advance copy pre-publication. [153902]

The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to the hon. Member for Newport, West (Paul Flynn) on 18 September 2003, Official Report, column 870W, and on 15 October 2003, Official Report, columns 233–34W. My right hon. Friend the Attorney-General (Lord Goldsmith) was also briefed on 19 September 2002.

9 Feb 2004 : Column 1198W

In addition, members of the Cabinet were provided with an advance copy of the dossier prior to its publication.

Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister whether a complete list of those who were asked to comment on draft versions of the 24 September dossier on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction was provided to members of the Intelligence and Security Committee for the purpose of its inquiry published in September 2003 on weapons of mass destruction and intelligence assessment. [153931]

The Prime Minister: No. The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) did not request such a list.

Lisbon Agenda

Keith Vaz: To ask the Prime Minister what actions he has taken to take forward the Lisbon Agenda. [153452]

The Prime Minister: The UK is one of the most active supporters of the Lisbon Agenda. We are working closely with the Irish Presidency to ensure the Spring Council delivers concrete conclusions which will push forward economic reform in Europe. We will also be using the Summit on 18 February with France and Germany to boost progress in this field.

The Treasury will issue a detailed review of progress against Lisbon commitments in the next few weeks. Copies will be placed in the House Library.

Minister of State (Transport)

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Prime Minister if he will dismiss the Minister of State at the Department for Transport. [153428]

The Prime Minister: No.

Ministerial Gifts

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the gifts received by Ministers between January 1998 and June 2001 in accordance with the recommendation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration in her report of 7 July 2003. [152958]

The Prime Minister: In March 2003, I published a list of all gifts received by Ministers since June 2001 valued at more than £140. Copies of the list are available in the Library of the House. The Government are also committed to publishing a list of gifts valued at more than £140 on an annual basis. The list of gifts for 2003–04 will be published as soon as possible after the end of this financial year.

The Government's position on the publication of gifts received by Ministers between January 1998 and June 2001 remains as set out in paragraph 43 of the sixth report of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (session 2002–03).

Ministerial Visits

Keith Vaz: To ask the Prime Minister when he next plans to make an official visit to (a) Denmark and (b) Sweden. [152972]

The Prime Minister: I have no current plans to do so.

9 Feb 2004 : Column 1199W

---