BLAIR AND BROWN MUST GIVE EVIDENCE IF CHILCOT IS TO UNCOVER TRUTH

BLAIR AND BROWN MUST GIVE EVIDENCE IF CHILCOT IS TO UNCOVER TRUTH

Responding to a statement by Sir John Chilcot in which the Chairman of the Iraq inquiry repeated his commitment to “getting the facts”, SNP Westminster Leader and Defence Spokesperson Angus Robertson stepped up his calls for both Gordon Brown and Tony Blair give evidence without delay.

Mr Robertson said:

“Tony Blair led us into an illegal war based on a dubious claim about weapons of mass destruction and Gordon Brown bankrolled it – now both men must give evidence and do so in public.

“With ever evidence session, Tony Blair’s dodgy dossier is discredited further. Instead of hearing from his aides and advisors, we must get the truth from the man who took the UK into the biggest foreign policy disaster in modern times.

"And Gordon Brown must explain whether he would still have bankrolled the war had he known there were never any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. As Chancellor, he wrote the cheques for the disastrous war in Iraq.

"This inquiry will be judged on the answers that it provides, and fundamental questions must be addressed."