Scott Report

Sir Richard Scott's arms-to-Iraq inquiry, reported February 1996 The exports were the starting point, but Scott's lasting finding was about Parliament: ministers had not told it the guidelines on defense sales to Iraq had been revised, and so had failed in their duty of accountability. The answer came on March 19, 1997, when the Commons resolved that accurate and truthful information is of paramount importance, inadvertent errors must be corrected at the earliest opportunity, and a minister who knowingly misleads Parliament is expected to offer their resignation. Those words still sit in the Ministerial Code, so every modern row about a minister misleading the House is argued on ground Scott cleared.