Commons Hansard Debates text for Wednesday 7 Jul 2004
Volume No. 423 Part No. 115
Oral Answers to Questions [7 Jul 2004]
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The Prime Minister: First, the hon. Gentleman will have to await the outcome of the spending review, and any proposals for our military based on it will be set out in future. However, we have increased defence spending in real terms, and we take immense pride in our armed forces, in Scotland as elsewhere in the UK. I regard it as a bit of cheek for the Scottish National party to complain about the state of the British military.
Mr. Robert N. Wareing (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab): Does my right hon. Friend still believe that there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?
The Prime Minister: I told the Liaison Committee yesterday that, although I was confident that those weapons existed last year, I have to accept that they have not been found. However, let me tell my hon. Friend that there is clearly no doubt at all that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, and I suppose that he would accept that. It is the case that he used them against his own people, but it is also true that we have not found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, although we have found plenty of evidence of intention, capability and intent. I simply say to my hon. Friend that it is sensible to wait for the outcome of the work of the Iraq survey group, but I certainly do not accept in any shape or form that Iraq was not a threat to the region and the wider world. I repeat again what I have said on many occasions—I believe that the world and this country are safer without Saddam Hussein in power.
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