BLAIR'S CONTEMPT FOR PARLIAMENT IS STARTLING - TONGE

12.00.00am GMT Wed 12th Feb 2003

Liberal Democrat Shadow International Development Secretary Jenny Tonge MP, commenting on the news that the recent British Government dossier on Iraq contained a considerable amount of material taken verbatim from the Middle East Review of International Affairs,

"There was nothing in the dossier which alone justifies an immediate attack upon Iraq. While the news that this document was simply copied from three different articles, including one written by a postgraduate student, is almost unbelievable."

"The Government's insistence that the dossier is "solid" is just laughable in the light of allegations that it included plagiarised material that was 12 years out of date.

"This is just the latest example of the contempt in which Blair holds Parliament. If it was the Government's intention to present this dossier to Parliament and the country as topical intelligence, then it can be viewed as nothing less than a deliberate attempt to deceive the country over an issue of enormous concern."