Row over Blair's proposed Iraq honours list

By NIGEL MORRIS


Tony Blair faced anger last night after it emerged that Downing Street is drawing up a "special Iraq Honours list", with officials who prepared the flawed dossier making the case for war in line for awards.

The Prime Minister is proposing that some 50 non-military honours, including knighthoods, OBEs and MBEs, are handed out, probably in the New Year, if they are approved by Whitehall's honours committee.

Although Downing Street said they would be aimed at those working at the "sharp end" rebuilding the country, it confirmed they could also cover London-based civil servants.

The disclosure came as MPs return to Westminster today, their disquiet over the war heightened by the conclusion of the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) that Saddam Hussein possessed no weapons of mass destruction.

Mr Blair will face demands to appear before the Commons to defend Government policy in the light of the ISG's damning report.

The honours plan emerged in a secret Whitehall document leaked to a Sunday newspaper. According to the memo, Sir David Omand, the national security co-ordinator responsible for overseeing the intelligence services, will recommend names for the list.

One recipient could be Jane Marriott, the head of the Foreign Office's nuclear proliferation department, who played a key role in assessing Saddam's weapons arsenal.

Simon Webb and Paul Roper, Ministry of Defence officials, and David Brummell of the Attorney-General's office, could also be honoured.

David Davis, the shadow Home Secretary, said: "While there may be worthy folk who have done work in Iraq, the idea of rewarding civil servants for a policy that has failed on this scale is hard to understand."

He said the plan was "completely at odds" with recent recommendations made by the Commons Public Administration Select Committee, which concluded that Prime Ministers should be prevented from political patronage by having honours in their gift.

Alice Mahon, the anti-war Labour MP for Halifax, said: "It would be outrageous if someone who quite clearly got the evidence wrong was honoured. It would be a very difficult one to explain to the public."

A Downing Street spokesman said the awards were aimed at people involved in the reconstruction of Iraq, including engineers, aid workers and teachers, although he acknowledged civil servants could also be recognised.

"This is primarily about recognising the sacrifice of people who have worked at the sharp end in Iraq. The Prime Minister has made clear these are exceptional circumstances and it is important that this is recognised in some form," he said.

Mr Blair faces a private meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party tonight, where he will be asked to grant a two-day debate on Iraq. He is also facing calls to make an emergency Commons statement on the subject; they were being resisted last night by Downing Street.

The Prime Minister's refusal to say sorry for the Iraq war has been criticised by the former Defence Minister, Peter Kilfoyle, the constituency MP for the family of Ken Bigley, who was executed by his Iraqi captors last week.

He will today table a Commons motion demanding that the Prime Minister issues an unambiguous apology.

Alan Simpson, the Labour MP for Nottingham South, said there was widespread support for a statement by Mr Blair following the conclusions of the Iraq Survey Group.

"The weapons inspectors report would in itself be a sufficient basis for the Government to address the fact it took the country to war on a completely false premise. The ongoing events in Iraq raise questions of their own on the coherence of the military strategy," he said.

Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, demanded a statement. He told ITV's Jonathan Dimbleby programme: "Tony Blair should be coming to the House of Commons when we return to address [these issues] head on - not least of course the Iraq survey group and the inevitable conclusion now that those weapons of mass destruction were not there in the way that we were told."

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Herald Feature: Iraq