Iraq Cabinet paper release vetoed

01 August 2012

Attorney General Dominic Grieve has blocked the release of minutes from Cabinet meetings held in the run up to Iraq War in 2003.

Grieve, the only minister with access to Cabinet minutes from the previous government, used his "exceptional" veto to block a call by the Information Commissioner to release the documents.

Grieve's veto follows a similar order by Jack Straw in 2009, but he said the veto was still needed because the case for disclosure was "outweighed by the strong interest in protecting the conditions necessary for effective cabinet government and thereby encouraging high-quality decision-making at the highest level".

The arguments in favour of a veto had not "materially altered" in the years since 2009, he argued, adding that many of the MPs present at the meetings were still in Parliament or "active" in public life.

Grieve said the issue of war discussed in the meetings was "exceptionally serious" and that it remained the focus of both "domestic and international interest".

He concluded that Iraq was "very much a live political issue in its own right" with links to the "overall security situation in the Middle East and the perceived link between the terror threat to the UK and military action in Iraq".

Information Commissioner Christopher Graham will now study Grieve's "statement of reasons" before reporting to Parliament in September, his office said.

"He recognises, however, that the Freedom of Information Act allows for a ministerial veto, and acknowledges that this decision is consistent with that made by the previous government, which vetoed disclosure of the same information following an Information Tribunal hearing."