Iraq War - Campbell calls on Blair to apologise

8.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 20th Mar 2007

Liberal Democrats - including many from Crawley - at the London rally against war in Iraq

On the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the Liberal Democrats released figures on the cost of the war both in terms of lives lost and resources:

• £5 billion has been spent by the UK on the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the bill continues to rise

• 134 British soldiers have lost their lives and hundreds have been wounded or maimed

• 34,452 Iraqi civilians died in 2006 with at least an estimated 50,000 since the war began

• One third of Iraqis are now living in poverty

A new survey carried out in Iraq for the BBC suggests people are becoming increasingly pessimistic about the future and unhappy about their lives. Less than 40% of those polled said things were good in their lives, compared to 71% two years ago.

Sir Ming Campbell, Leader of the Liberal Democrats "The war in Iraq was illegal. President Bush made the decisions, the Prime Minister argued the case, the Chancellor signed the cheques and the Tories voted it through. The Prime Minister should apologise to the country for taking us into an illegal war that has cost all sides dearly. Military action against Iraq has practically brought the country and people to its knees. It is now time to plan for an orderly withdrawal that should begin on 1st May and no British troops should remain after the end of October."