2 | Decision-making within government

247. The draft minute proposed:

“… a new Ad Hoc Ministerial Group on Iraq Rehabilitation reporting to you [Mr Blair].

The Foreign Secretary [Mr Straw] should chair … Its terms of reference would be:

‘to formulate policy for the rehabilitation, reform and development of Iraq’.”

248. The new Ministerial Group would be supported by an officials group, led by the

Cabinet Office and including the Head of the IPU.

249. The Inquiry has not seen a final version of Sir Andrew Turnbull’s minute.

250. Mr Chakrabarti wrote to Sir Andrew Turnbull on 1 April, confirming that the new

groups proposed in Sir Andrew’s draft minute to Mr Blair:

“… seem the best way to take forward the detailed implications of any SCR’s

content, and what can be done before its passing … The key will be to agree

very quickly on the work programme and to task those with the knowledge and

experience in the subject areas to take the lead while consulting others with an

interest in ensuring all the workstreams fit together into a coherent – and affordable

– strategy. We must draw on the lessons learnt from other post-conflict situations

such as Afghanistan, Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone and Bosnia.”

251. Sir Andrew Turnbull informed Mr Straw on 7 April that Mr Blair had agreed a new

committee should be established “to formulate policy for the rehabilitation, reform and

development of Iraq”.146 Mr Straw would chair; other members would be the Chancellor

of the Exchequer, the Defence Secretary, the International Development Secretary and

the Trade and Industry Secretary. The committee would be supported by a group of

officials, chaired by Mr Bowen.

252. Mr Straw chaired the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Ministerial Group on Iraq

Rehabilitation (AHMGIR) on 10 April.147

253. In July 2004, the Butler Committee found:

“… we are concerned that the informality and circumscribed character of the

Government’s procedures which we saw in the context of policy-making towards Iraq

risks reducing the scope for informed collective political judgement.”148

254. The Government accepted the Committee’s conclusions, and said: “where a small

group is brought together to work on operational military planning and developing the

146 Letter Turnbull to Straw, 7 April 2003, ‘Iraq: Rehabilitation’.

147 Minutes, 10 April 2003, Ad Hoc Group on Iraq Rehabilitation meeting.

148 Review of Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction [“The Butler Report”], 14 July 2004, HC 898,

page 160.

307