Summary of Paddy Tipping's votes on Iraq
When I got a reply from Paddy Tipping to my letter about
Iraq, I was surprised to discover that he had doubts too about the wisdom of the
invasion. However, actions speak louder than words, so I thought I'd go over all the
Commons votes on Iraq to see how he voted.
The results were a little disappointing. He got off to a good start by not voting in the 17 March 2003 vote to deploy troops - still not sure whether this was due to dissent - or some other reason such as illness. However, he has never actually voted against the government.
Note that no vote does not mean a deliberate abstention, he might just not have been there. I haven't bothered to put a result column - thanks to loyal Labour MPs like Paddy Tipping, Tony Blair got the thumbs up every single time.
| Date and Title | Summary | |
| 20/07/2004 Iraq | Did not vote | General debate on Iraq, Paddy didn't vote. |
| 17/05/2004 Iraq | Pro Gov | Paddy voted against a motion which noted the deteriorating situation and which called for no further UK troop deployments unless requested by UK military. |
| 09/03/2004 Iraq (Attorney-General's Advice) | Pro Gov | Paddy voted to overturn motion calling for release of full advice on Iraq by Attorney General on legality of war. It is widely believed that contents would be embarrassing for the Government. |
| 13/01/2004 National Audit Office Report on Operation Telic | Pro Gov | Paddy Tipping helps to save Government embarrassment by voting to remove from the motion a catalogue of equipment deficiencies suffered by UK troops. |
| 22/10/2003 Iraq (Judicial Inquiry) | Pro Gov | Paddy Tipping votes for a motion ruling out further investigation of the Government's misinformation about WMDs. Let's draw a line under it, as Tony Blair would say. |
| 22/10/2003 Iraq (Judicial Inquiry) | Pro Gov | The motion calls for a further judicial inquiry into a number of areas not yet covered, but Paddy votes to replace with the motion above, which states there is no need for further inquiries. |
| 10/09/2003 Role of the United Nations in Iraq | Pro Gov | A motion calling for the UN to assume responsibility in Iraq is voted against by Paddy. We definitely don't want anything that might hamper the US shovelling large quantities of Iraq's oil money into Halliburton's pockets, do we? |
| 16/07/2003 Iraq | Pro Gov | Paddy votes to remove chunks from a motion about the Foreign Affairs Committee investigation, which note that they had insufficient time, and were denied access to a number of sources. |
| 04/06/2003 Iraq | Pro Gov | A motion noted that although the PM had asserted that Iraq had WMDs, none had been found. Paddy Tipping helped the government replace this with one which a) blamed the intelligence, b) specified that the Intelligence and Security Committee was the correct body to investigate this (which conveniently has a Labour majority). |
| 18/03/2003 Iraq | Did not vote | The Commons voted to 'use all necessary means' to disarm Iraq of its WMDs, thereby giving assent for the UK to participate in the attack on Iraq. |
| 18/03/2003 Iraq | Did not vote | A motion that the case for war had not yet been established was defeated. |
| 26/02/2003 Iraq | Pro Gov | An ultimatum calling for Iraq to recognise this as their final opportunity to disarm, was supported by Paddy. |
| 26/02/2003 Iraq | Pro Gov | Paddy Tipping voted against a motion that the case for war was yet unproven |
| 25/11/2002 UN Security Council Resolution 1441 | Pro Gov | The motion stated that it should be for the UN Security Council to decide whether Iraq was in 'material breach' of resolution 1441, and that UK military action should be preceded by a vote in the Commons. Paddy Tipping voted against this. |
| 24/09/2002 Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction | Did note vote | Parliament was recalled to debate the dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. This was the 'dodgy dossier' containing the plagiarised PhD thesis, itself based on information over a decade old. |