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| Chilcot report live: Corbyn says parliament should act against Blair after inquiry says case for Iraq war exaggerated | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 2.06pm BST | |
| 14:06 | |
| In the Commons David Cameron is still responding to questions. Adapting one of Tony Blair’s most famous comments, the SDLP MP Mark Durkan said that this was not a day for soundbites, but today was a day when “the hand of history should be feeling someone’s collar”. Cameron laughed, and said MPs had to take responsibility for their actions. | |
| 2.04pm BST | |
| 14:04 | |
| Vikram Dodd | |
| Scotland Yard’s war crimes unit is not studying the Iraq inquiry report nor was it given an advance copy by Sir John Chilcot’s team. | |
| Critics of the war have claimed it was illegal and may have amounted to a war crime. But there is currently no involvement by UK police, and nothing has been referred to them. In a statement Scotland Yard said: “The Chilcot inquiry has not referred any matters to police for criminal investigation at any stage in their work.” | |
| The war crimes unit is part of Scotland Yard’s counter terrorism command, which when it does investigate cases, works closely with the Crown Prosecution Service | |
| The CPS has published this guide to investigating war crimes, including an email address to refer cases. There may be different opinions about whether anything in the vast report may possibly amount to an offence under United Kingdom criminal law. | |
| 2.02pm BST | |
| 14:02 | |
| Alastair Campbell, who was Tony Blair’s communications director at the time of the Iraq war, has written a long post on his blog about Chilcot. He welcomes the fact that he has not been accused of “sexing up” the dossier about Iraq’s WMDs. And he says it important to remember that leaders have to take difficult decisions. He concludes: | |
| I am going to leave the final word in this piece to the constitutional expert, Professor Vernon Bogdanor. Last month he gave a long and thoughtful lecture on the Iraq war, at Gresham College in London. It was a calm and cold-headed analysis and merits careful reading. But I was particularly struck by his final paragraph. | |
| ‘Of course, with hindsight, all things might have been done differently, but as President Bush said, and on this I agree with him, “Hindsight is not a strategy. Everyone’s hindsight is better than the most acute foresight.” My conclusion,’ said Bogdanor, ‘is that there are no easy answers, that Bush and Blair were faced with an almost impossible dilemma, and that all of us should be very grateful that we were not in their shoes and did not have to make their difficult decisions.’ | |
| The Chilcot inquiry panel knows a lot about foreign policy, and about government process. They have been through millions of documents and produced a huge and challenging piece of work. But ultimately, as they recognise, they have never actually had to make the decision they have been examining. Such decisions are the stuff of leadership, which may explain why David Cameron, whose statement I have just listened to as I finish this, seemed to be speaking with considerable sympathy and support for his predecessor. He knows how hard these decisions are. He also knows that there may well be times in the future where we have to put our armed forces in harm’s way once more. | |
| Updated | |
| at 2.09pm BST | |
| 1.54pm BST | |
| 13:54 | |
| In the Commons the Green MP Caroline Lucas told David Cameron he and his party should take responsibility for their decision to vote for the war. In his reply Cameron said he did not see the point in going back over old arguments. | |
| Updated | |
| at 1.56pm BST | |
| 1.53pm BST | |
| 13:53 | |
| The Labour MP Frank Field says Tony Blair should apologise for the decision he took. Field said: | |
| A considered verdict on the Iraq war will evolve over the next few weeks as the Chilcot report is read fully. What is now clear is the total incompetence of Tony Blair in launching a war and having no plan for the day after the Iraqi regime was overthrown. | |
| That gigantic political error resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqis, as well as 179 British soldiers. The Middle East has been thrown into chaos. Tony Blair maintains he has nothing to apologise for. If this record is not one which warrants an apology, it is difficult to think what is. | |
| 1.49pm BST | |
| 13:49 | |
| Here is Mike Hookem, the Ukip defence spokesman, on the Chilcot report: | |
| Blair’s quest for personal prestige on the international stage, the failure of the intelligence community and the failure of MPs to properly research the UN’s reasons for not backing military action led to the UK’s armed forces being condemned to seven years of hell for which they were underequipped and not properly supported. | |
| The report shines a spotlight on the glaring failures of the government to have any kind of pre- or post-conflict planning which would inevitably lead to the rise of another fundamentalist group as we now have with Daesh (Isis). | |
| Each and every one of those involved in taking the UK into Iraq should hang their heads in shame as they have failed both the armed forces and the British people as a whole. | |
| Updated | |
| at 1.52pm BST | |
| 1.49pm BST | |
| 13:49 | |
| A response from Plaid Cymru’s Westminster group leader, Hywel Williams: | |
| The Chilcot report confirms what Plaid Cymru MPs have said from the beginning – the dossier prepared by Mr Blair to make the case for war was deliberately distorted in order to convince parliament to vote for an illegal war, and did not reflect the evidence given to Mr Blair by the security services. It confirms that Mr Blair undermined the UN security council’s authority and that war was not a last resort. | |
| It is clear that when Blair failed to get the second UN resolution, he handed over UK foreign policy to George Bush. His legacy is a million dead, a failed state and the Middle East in flames. The region as a whole in crisis, with innocent families fleeing their own governments and terrorist organisations, and desperately seeking refuge in Europe. | |
| We cannot have an illegal war with such devastating consequences without a judicial or political reckoning. Mr Blair must be held to account. | |
| Updated | |
| at 1.51pm BST | |
| 1.47pm BST | |
| 13:47 | |
| Sandra Laville | |
| Examination of the Chilcot report is showing some more deficiencies in the military planning for the war (see also here). | |
| A Ministry of Defence list of “showstopping” equipment deficiencies created in May 2002 – just 10 months before the invasion – was not shared with key logistics departments but kept among a tight-knit group of military figures and officials, Chilcot finds. | |
| The deficiencies included not enough tents for troops, with only 2,500 available; a clear “pinch point” relating to the number of support helicopters; and that eight Chinook Mk35 helicopters, ordered in 1995, would not be ready for another two years. | |
| Updated | |
| at 1.50pm BST | |
| 1.46pm BST | |
| 13:46 | |
| In the Commons Alex Salmond, the former Scottish first minister, said he could not see how Tony Blair’s comment to President Bush in July 2002 about being with him “whatever” (see 1.01pm) was in anyway compatible with what Blair was saying at the time publicly. | |
| 1.44pm BST | |
| 13:44 | |
| Speaking on the BBC’s Daily Politics Show Paul Flynn, the leftwing Labour MP and newly appointed shadow leader of the Commons, said he thought there should be “serious consideration” given to the idea of prosecuting Tony Blair. | |
| Updated | |
| at 1.48pm BST | |
| 1.40pm BST | |
| 13:40 | |
| Jack Straw: in hindsight, different decisions would have been made | |
| The foreign secretary at the time of the invasion of Iraq, Jack Straw has released a statement in response to the report, saying that “with the benefit of hindsight, different decisions would have been made in Iraq”. | |
| He added: “The consequences which flow from the decision to take military action against Iraq will live with me for the rest of my life.” | |
| Updated | |
| at 1.48pm BST | |
| 1.37pm BST | |
| 13:37 | |
| Here’s a video extract of Sir John Chilcot introducing his report. | |
| Updated | |
| at 1.48pm BST | |
| 1.34pm BST | 1.34pm BST |
| 13:34 | 13:34 |
| The Labour MP Alan Johnson asks Cameron if he has found any evidence of lies told to parliament when the Commons debated Iraq in March 2003. | |
| Cameron says he can’t find an accusation of “deliberately deceiving people” in the report. But there are complaints about information not being presented accurately. | Cameron says he can’t find an accusation of “deliberately deceiving people” in the report. But there are complaints about information not being presented accurately. |
| Updated | |
| at 1.48pm BST | |
| 1.25pm BST | 1.25pm BST |
| 13:25 | 13:25 |
| Esther Addley | Esther Addley |
| The family members of some of the British servicemen and women who died in Iraq have welcomed the Chilcot report, with many saying it had set down in black and white what they had been arguing for more than a decade. | |
| Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon was 19 when he was killed, said: “Now we can turn and say we have got the proof. Twelve years of fighting for my son have been worth it.” | Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon was 19 when he was killed, said: “Now we can turn and say we have got the proof. Twelve years of fighting for my son have been worth it.” |
| Many spoke of their relief that the report had finally been published. Pauline Graham, Gordon Gentle’s grandmother and Rose Gentle’s mother, said: “Now we know where we stand and what we can do. Tony Blair should betaken to court for trial for murder. He can’t get away with this any more.” | Many spoke of their relief that the report had finally been published. Pauline Graham, Gordon Gentle’s grandmother and Rose Gentle’s mother, said: “Now we know where we stand and what we can do. Tony Blair should betaken to court for trial for murder. He can’t get away with this any more.” |
| Some fought back tears while speaking of the loved ones they had lost, and there was also widespread anger. Mark Thompson, father of Kevin Thompson, who was killed in 2007, said he also blamed Blair. “He’s destroyed families. We have lost grandchildren. We have lost a daughter-in-law. He’s got everything. He should be stripped of everything he has for what he’s done. It was an illegal war. My son died in vain. He died for no reason.” | |
| Many of the family members hope to bring private prosecutions following the report’s publication, but Matthew Jury, who represents the family members of 29 who died, said it would take “weeks and months of full and proper consideration” before decisions could be made. “Legal proceedings may be possible”, he said, but it was too early to determine anything further. | Many of the family members hope to bring private prosecutions following the report’s publication, but Matthew Jury, who represents the family members of 29 who died, said it would take “weeks and months of full and proper consideration” before decisions could be made. “Legal proceedings may be possible”, he said, but it was too early to determine anything further. |
| Peter Brierley, whose son Shaun died in 2003, said: “What I have always said is what I want is to be able to go home, sit in my chair, switch on the telly and say, I have done everything I possibly can. There is nothing else I can do for my son. With this today, that seems at least to be closer now.” | Peter Brierley, whose son Shaun died in 2003, said: “What I have always said is what I want is to be able to go home, sit in my chair, switch on the telly and say, I have done everything I possibly can. There is nothing else I can do for my son. With this today, that seems at least to be closer now.” |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 1.47pm BST | |
| 1.21pm BST | 1.21pm BST |
| 13:21 | 13:21 |
| The Conservative MP David Davis says that, although Sir John Chilcot does not accuse Tony Blair of deceit, “a lot of evidence” suggests that he did deceive MPs. For example, the Bush memo mentioned earlier (see 1.01pm) said the aim of the invasion was regime change. That is not something Blair admitted at the time. What action can the Commons take about the fact it was deceived. | The Conservative MP David Davis says that, although Sir John Chilcot does not accuse Tony Blair of deceit, “a lot of evidence” suggests that he did deceive MPs. For example, the Bush memo mentioned earlier (see 1.01pm) said the aim of the invasion was regime change. That is not something Blair admitted at the time. What action can the Commons take about the fact it was deceived. |
| Cameron says that this issue is complicated. But he says that he has looked at the report carefully, and Chilcot does not seem to be accusing Blair of deceit. | Cameron says that this issue is complicated. But he says that he has looked at the report carefully, and Chilcot does not seem to be accusing Blair of deceit. |
| 1.19pm BST | 1.19pm BST |
| 13:19 | 13:19 |
| Margaret Beckett, the Labour MP who was environment secretary at the time, sounded almost tearful as she told MPs that people who voted for the war (like her) had to take responsibility for what they did. But did Cameron agree that terrorists also needed to take responsibility for what they did. | Margaret Beckett, the Labour MP who was environment secretary at the time, sounded almost tearful as she told MPs that people who voted for the war (like her) had to take responsibility for what they did. But did Cameron agree that terrorists also needed to take responsibility for what they did. |
| Cameron agrees. He says MPs have to take responsibility for how they voted. | Cameron agrees. He says MPs have to take responsibility for how they voted. |