News

12th February 2003

John Bowis speaks in Emergency Debate on Iraq

During the emergency debate in the European Parliament on the situation in Iraq on 12th February, John Bowis, Deputy Leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament, said:

"Unlike when we took action to rescue the Falklands, Kuwait and Bosnia, this time our constituents are uncertain and uneasy. They see no unity of purpose among the governments of Europe.

"They see Member States declining to comply with their NATO treaty obligations to protect Turkey against the possibility of attack. Their fears are confirmed that a European Defence Policy would be dangerous for NATO.

"My own Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has abysmally failed to persuade the British people. He couldn't even persuade a single one of his own British Labour MEPs to support his policy in the vote in the European Parliament.

"Unlike Iraq, we are democracies. We cannot go to war without heeding the concerns of the people."