MORE PRESSURE ON BROWN AS CHILCOT REVELATIONS CONTINUE

MORE PRESSURE ON BROWN AS CHILCOT REVELATIONS CONTINUE

SNP Westminster Leader and Defence Spokesperson Angus Robertson MP said the case for calling Gordon Brown before the Chilcot Inquiry is now “undeniable”.

Mr Robertson spoke out as senior Foreign Office officials informed the Iraq Inquiry that the UK had failed to impress upon the US the importance of post-conflict planning – with disastrous consequences.

The Inquiry today (Tuesday) heard evidence from Sir Peter Ricketts, the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee at the time of the invasion and later the first British ambassador to Iraq in 13 years, and Edward Chaplin, Director of Middle East policy at the Foreign Office.

Commenting, Mr Robertson said:

“With every evidence session, the circumstances surrounding the Labour Government’s decision to go to war in Iraq become ever more dubious. Instead of hearing from aides and advisors, it is becoming increasingly urgent that we hear from the politicians who took the decisions that led us into the biggest foreign policy disaster in modern times.

“Tony Blair, the man who took the UK to war based on a lie, is to appear before the committee. The case for Gordon Brown, the man who signed the cheques, to appear alongside him is now undeniable.

“This inquiry will be judged on the answers that it provides and the public deserve to hear the real story about a war fought in their name from the men who took us there."