Conference:

Regrets the escalation of sectarian conflict in Iraq in recent months with more than 34,000 civilian deaths reported in 2006 alone and believes that Iraq is fast approaching civil war.

Notes that on 1 May 2007 it will be four years since the coalition forces declared the war to be over.

Recognises that the long-term stability and territorial integrity of Iraq is in the interests of the region and the international community;

Notes the report of the US Iraq Study Group which recommended a new strategy in line with Liberal Democrat proposals to, amongst other things, engage with regional powers such as Iran and Syria, but is dismayed that the Bush administration has decided to reject it.
Further notes the lack of a similar strategy review here in the United Kingdom.

Agrees with the Head of the British Army, Sir Richard Dannatt, that the presence of British forces now exacerbates the security situation in Iraq and notes the overstretch of UK armed forces generally.

Recognising that US strategy is now diverging from UK interests, Conference therefore calls for:

1. The British Government immediately to begin work with coalition and Iraqi partners to plan for an orderly withdrawal of British troops from Iraq.
2. The withdrawal to begin by 1 May and to be completed by the end of October 2007.