13.1 |
Resources
513.
At Prime
Minister’s Questions on 19 March 2003, Mr David Rendel asked
for an
assurance
that sufficient funds for post‑conflict reconstruction would be
made available
“ … we will
ensure that funds are available – indeed, funds have already
been
earmarked
for the purpose and the Secretary of State for International
Development,
the
Ministry of Defence and the Treasury are doing all they can to make
sure that we
co‑ordinate
with American allies and also with other UN partners to ensure that
the
funds are
available … so that in the post‑conflict situation in Iraq the
people of Iraq
are given
the future that they need.”
515.
The Coalition
began military action against Iraq on the night of 19/20 March. At
that
time, the
Government had made no provision for funding for
reconstruction.
516.
Ms Short
wrote to Mr Boateng on 21 March, to request £120m from the
Reserve
for
humanitarian relief in Iraq.309
Ms Short
advised that her bid did not include any funds
for
reconstruction:
“In the
longer term, we will need to consider reconstruction costs. We
agree with you
that there
should be broad international burden sharing of any financing gap
unmet
by oil
revenues, with a major role for the IFIs. But we will need to
discuss these
issues
further at the appropriate time in the coming weeks, once the
post‑conflict
situation
is clearer and we have an IFI led needs assessment.”
517.
Mr Straw
sent Mr Blair four FCO papers in advance of Mr Blair’s
meeting with
President
Bush at Camp David on 26 and 27 March, including one on
post‑conflict Iraq
(see
Section 10.1).310
The FCO
stated that Ms Short was considering where the UK
might help
with “reform and reconstruction”; however:
“Public
finances are tight. If we are to keep Armed Forces in Iraq, the
scope for
a major
effort on reform and reconstruction will be
limited.”311
518.
In his 9 April
Budget statement to the House of Commons, Mr Brown
announced
that he had
set aside “an additional US$100 million” to “back up the UN and the
work
of reconstruction
and development”.312
308
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 19 March
2003, column 930.
309
Letter
Short to Boateng, 21 March 2003, ‘Iraq Humanitarian Funding:
Reserve Claim’.
310
Minute
Straw to Blair, 25 March 2003, ‘Camp David: Post‑Iraq
Policies’.
311
Paper FCO,
25 March 2003, ‘Iraq: Phase IV Issues’.
312
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 9 April
2003, columns 271‑288.
529