The Report of the Iraq Inquiry

“This has required cuts into the muscle of our operation – including the closure or

localisation of nearly a dozen diplomatic posts.”

544. The £30.4m bid comprised:

• £5.3m for costs associated with the British Office in Baghdad and the UK

Special Representative in Baghdad;

• £2.1m to establish a British Office in Basra;

• £7.7m to improve security for FCO staff in Baghdad;

• £4m to improve security for FCO staff in Basra;

• £2.7m to improve the security of FCO posts outside Iraq;

• £8.5m to support and provide security for UK secondees to the CPA, including

costs associated with Sir Hilary Synnott; and

• £138,000 to support Ms Ann Clwyd, the Prime Minister’s Envoy on Human

Rights in Iraq.

545. Mr Straw also requested that £28m be added to the FCO’s budget for 2004/05

to cover the continuing costs of those activities.

546. Sir Hilary Synnott arrived in Basra on 30 July, to lead CPA(South).331

547. Sir Hilary wrote in his memoirs that his arrival established “some sort of British

Fiefdom” in the South, but one which was “still entirely dependent on American

resources for its lifeblood”.332

548. In late August the FCO increased its bid for support and security for staff seconded

to the CPA from £8.5m to £15.5m, bringing the total FCO bid to the Reserve for 2003/04

to £38m.333

549. Treasury officials advised Mr Boateng on 4 September that he should:

• Accept the bid relating to support and security for staff seconded to the CPA

(£15.5m). That could be funded from the US$100m/£60m allocation announced

by Mr Brown on 9 April.

• Provide £6m of the £7.7m requested to improve security for FCO staff in

Baghdad.

• Reject the other bids (totalling some £15m), as those related to “costs that the

FCO knew about but chose not to make contingency arrangements for”.

331 Synnott H. Bad Days in Basra: My Turbulent Time as Britain’s Man in Southern Iraq. I B Tauris & Co

Ltd., 2008.

332 Synnott H. Bad Days in Basra: My Turbulent Time as Britain’s Man in Southern Iraq. I B Tauris & Co

Ltd., 2008.

333 Minute Treasury [junior officials] to Chief Secretary, 4 September 2003, ‘FCO Reserve Claim for Iraq

Costs’.

534