HL Deb 31 October 2002 vol 640 cc42-3WA
Lord Williams of Elvel

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have received legal advice on the lawfulness of making war on Iraq without a specific United Nations mandate; and, if so, whether they will publish it. [HL6003]

Baroness Amos

It has been the longstanding policy of successive governments not to disclose internal policy advice, including legal advice (exempt under Part 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, "information whose disclosure would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion"). As we have repeatedly made clear, no decision to launch military action had been taken and military action is not inevitable. The Government's view of the legal position was recently set out to the Foreign Affairs Committee and can be found in the FAC's 20 June 2002 report on theForeign Policy Aspects of the War Against Terrorism.