THE cabinet ministers who had most to fear from the Scott report's conclusions on their involvement in the arms to Iraq affair, claimed yesterday they had been "completely exonerated" by the inquiry.
Mr William Waldegrave, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury who as a foreign minister relaxed the government's guidelines on arms sales to Iraq, said he had been cleared of lying and deliberately misleading parliament by Sir Richard Scott's report.
"He also proves beyond doubt that I did not connive in allowing machine tools for arms manufacture to go to Iraq. He says I would have stopped them going if certain intelligence reports had reached rue. I am grateful to Sir Richard for listening to what I said to him, above all for accepting my good faith," he said.
While the Attorney General, Sir Nicholas Lyell, who had instructed ministers to sign Public Interest Immunity certificates preventing necessary documents to be disclosed to the defendants in the Matrix Churchill trial, said the report proved allegations that he had been prepared to send innocent men to prison were completely "false and without foundation."
However, the Labour Party denounced the government's claims that ministers had been "totally vindicated" by the Scott report as a "travesty" of Sir Richard's conclusions.
The Labour leader Mr Tony Blair, described the government's reaction to the report's conclusions and criticism of ministers as "extraordinary."
"There is a huge gape between the report and the government's interpretation of it. Their extraordinary response to such a damning report is one more reason why the Tories will never be trusted again," he said.
The Shadow Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, demanded that the Prime Minister, Mr John Major, sack those ministers whose actions had been criticised in the report.
"Are you really going to ask the House to accept a report that over five volumes demonstrates how this government misjudged Saddam Hussein, misled MPs and misdirected the prosecution and then tell is that none off them is going to accept responsibility for getting it wrong?" he asked.
Lord Callaghan, the former Labour prime minister said the government's behaviour over the Scott report had been "offensive and demeaning and described the President of the Board of Trade, Mr Ian Lang's attempt at a damage limitation excises as an "abuse of parliamentary procedure".
He questioned Sir Richard's conclusion that ministers had not knowingly misled the House of Commons. "Is there any suggestion in the report as to why a highly intelligent man like Mr Waldegrave, a fellow of All Souls, a man of utmost intellectual distinction, should not have recognised what he was writing was different from the policy that was laid down?" he asked.
Mr Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrats spokesman on Foreign Affairs, also demanded she resignation of Mr Waldegrave and Sir Nicholas, arguing that the public and the House of Commons could "no longer have any confidence" in their actions.
However, Downing Street reaffirmed Mr Major's full support for the two cabinet ministers and said the government would consider Sir Richard's recommendations every carefully."
"On the central charges that concerned the public and led to the setting up of the inquiry, that ministers had conspired secretly to arm Saddam Hussein in breach of declared policy and that ministers had attempted to gag the courts and send innocent men to jail, the report clears the government. The government welcomes this clearing of its good name," a spokesman said.
The Tory MP for Aldridge Brownhills, demanded an explanation as to why the House of Commons was not informed of the decision to relax the policy on exporting arms to Iraq.