Iraq war inquiry
Politics live with Andrew Sparrow

Chilcot report: Bush says 'world is better off' without Saddam as Blair mounts Iraq war defence – as it happened

Live coverage as Sir John Chilcot unveils his report into the Iraq war. Plus all the day’s other political news as Tory leadership runners go down to three

Updated
Chilcot report: ‘A devastating critique of Blair and the British government’

, , and

Jessica Elgot
David Cameron speaks at prime minister’s questions.
David Cameron speaks at prime minister’s questions. Photograph: PA

Earlier, during prime minister’s questions, Cameron said it was important to “learn the lessons of the report”.

The SNP’s Angus Robertson had asked about planning, citing not just Iraq, but Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and for the UK post-Brexit. “When will the UK government actually start learning from the mistakes of the past rather than condemned to repeat them in the future?” he asked.

Cameron said it was not possible for planning to be fool-proof. “What John Chilcot says about the failure to plan is very, very clear,” Cameron said said, citing the new national security council set up by the coalition government after the 2010 election as an example of new methods of decision-making.

“There is actually no set of arrangements and plans that can provide perfection in any of these cases,’ he went on.

“We can argue whether military intervention is ever justified and I think it is, but planning for the aftermath is always difficult. I don’t think in this House we should be naive in any way that there’s a perfect set of plans that can solve these problems in perpetuity – there aren’t.”

Google plus

Cameron says Chilcot report should not rule out further military interventions

Cameron says there are some lessons from Iraq that should not be drawn.

First, it would be wrong to conclude that Britain should not support America, he says.

Second, we should not conclude that we cannot rely on the judgments of the intelligence agency. He says the report shows how assessing intelligence, and taking policy decisions based on that, must be kept separate.

Third, it would be wrong to conclude that the military cannot intervene successfully.

And, fourth, it would be wrong to conclude that intervention is always wrong.

  • Cameron says Chilcot report should not rule out further military interventions.
Google plus

Cameron on the lessons to be learnt from Iraq

Cameron says MPs voted for military action.

MPs who voted in favour will have to take “our share” of responsibility.

He says, even when the government plans thoroughly, that does not guarantee success in a military intervention. He cites Libya as an example.

He is now turning to lessons.

First, war should be a last resort, he says.

Second, government machinery matters. That is why he set up the national security council, he says. He also says he has appointed a national security adviser.

Cameron says the government would not commit troops now without a full and thorough debate in the national security council.

Third, culture matters too, he says. It must be safe for officials to challenge ministers without being afraid. He says in the NSC everyone can speak their mind.

Fourth, Cameron says the government can now deploy experts around the world at short notice.

Fifth, Cameron says it is important to ensure the armed forces are properly resourced. The government is doing this. He says the decision to sent troops to Iraq without proper equipment was “unacceptable”.

Updated

Google plus

Cameron says Chilcot says the UK did not provide the UK forces with appropriate equipment.

The MoD was slow to respond to the threat from IEDs (improvised explosive devices), he says.

Cameron says Chilcot says the government could have re-assessed - but did not.

And Chilcot says it was too focused on withdrawing from Iraq, Cameron says.

Cameron says Chilcot says it is questionable whether not participating in invasion would have broken the US/UK partnership.

Google plus

Cameron says Chilcot does not accuse Blair of deliberate attempt to deceive people

Cameron says Chilcot does not express a view as to whether or not the war was legal.

But he says the circumstances in which its legality was evaluated were unsatisfactory.

He says Chilcot says diplomatic options had not been exhausted.

He says Chilcot criticises the decision-making process in No 10.

And Chilcot says Blair sent notes to President Bush not agreed with colleagues.

But Chilcot did not find there was a deliberate attempt to deceive people, Cameron says.

  • Cameron says Chilcot does not accuse Blair of a deliberate attempt to deceive people.

Updated

Google plus

Cameron is now summarising some of the report’s findings.

He says Chilcot found there was a genuine belief in Washington and London that Saddam Hussein had chemical and biological weapons, and was trying to get nuclear weapons.

But the idea that Saddam did not have these weapons was not seriously considered by the joint intelligence committee, he says.

He adds that Chilcot says Robin Cook showed that it was possible to come to a different conclusion from the intelligence.

He says Chilcot found that Blair did not improperly influence the September 2002 dossier about Iraq’s WMDs. But Chilcot says the limitations of the intelligence should have been made clearer.

Updated

Google plus

Heather Stewart
Jack Straw in 2015.
Jack Straw in 2015. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

Another of our stories on the report, this one about criticisms of the foreign secretary in 2003, Jack Straw:

Jack Straw signed up to plans for an invasion in Iraq, despite fearing there could be ‘a long and unsuccessful war’, the Chilcot report finds.

The report states the then foreign secretary raised the question in response to a briefing in March 2003 of what would happen in the event of a protracted conflict, but ‘Mr Straw’s question was not put to officials and there is no indication that it was considered further’.

It also criticises Straw’s role in the deeply flawed process of preparing for post-crisis Iraq, with the UK failing to win over Washington to its preferred plan for the UN to take the lead. ‘It was Mr Straw’s responsibility as foreign secretary to give due consideration to the range of options available to the UK’ should it fail to convince the US that the UN should take charge, it says.

‘These included making UK participation in military action conditional on a satisfactory post-conflict plan … Mr Straw did not do so in January 2003,’ it says.

Read the full story:

Updated

Google plus

Cameron's statement on the Chilcot report

David Cameron is making his statement about the Chilcot report now.

He says families of those killed waited too long for it. He pays tribute to their service. And he says we must never forget the thousands more injured in Iraq.

  • MPs will spend two days debating the report next week, Cameron says.
Google plus

Clare Short, international development secretary at the time of the Iraq war, has told the BBC she feels “terrible” about her role in what happened. These are from the BBC’s Chris Mason.

Chris Mason (@ChrisMasonBBC)

Fmr Lab Cab Min Clare Short has said she feels “terrible” over her role in run up to the Iraq War and her failure to prevent the conflict.

July 6, 2016
Chris Mason (@ChrisMasonBBC)

"I know I tried my damnedest,” Clare Short told @BBCNews. “But I failed and for that I feel terrible.”

July 6, 2016
Google plus

This is from CND’s general secretary, Kate Hudson:

The report shows that Tony Blair had no respect for cabinet procedure, no respect for parliament, and no respect for international law. A country was destroyed, millions of innocent Iraqis were killed, British soldiers were killed, and terrorism has spread across the Middle East.

Chilcot reveals the evidence that must now be used to bring Tony Blair to justice. This is our demand. Only when justice is served can we prevent disasters like the Iraq war ever happening again.

Updated

Google plus