§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 27 October 2003,Official Report,column 50W, on Iraq, what steps he took to ascertain the nature of the delivery system to which the time of 45 minutes, mentioned in the Joint Intelligence Committee's assessment of 9 September, referred. [138629]
§ The Prime MinisterThis intelligence report did not significantly amend the long standing Joint Intelligence Committee assessment that Iraq had command and control and logistical arrangements in place for the use of weapons of mass destruction. This particular piece of intelligence added precision as to timing which had not previously been available but did not change the overall picture and therefore there was no reason to seek further information.
As the Intelligence and Security Committee noted in their report on 9 September 2003 there was convincing intelligence that Iraq had active chemical, biological and nuclear programmes, the capability to produce chemical and biological weapons. All of this, irrespective of the means by which such weapons were to be delivered, was in breach of UN Security Council Resolutions.