Tony Blair's statement on Chilcot – what he said and what he meant

Tony Blair: The report should lay to rest allegations of bad faith, lies or deceit.

Martin Kettle: The crucial Chilcot finding from Blair’s perspective, so not surprisingly it’s placed right at the top of his response. The report does not say Blair lied, so Blair is insisting the discussion should focus on his judgment and the decisions he made, not his honesty.

Whether people agree or disagree with my decision to take military action against Saddam Hussein, I took it in good faith and in what I believed to be the best interests of the country.

The standard Blair post-Iraq defence, endlessly repeated at his post-Chilcot press conference. Strikingly it centres on the war being my decision, not the government’s or parliament’s. Good faith seems to matter more to Blair than good decision-making.

I note that the report finds clearly:

– That there was no falsification or improper use of intelligence (para 876 vol 4)

No sexing-up, no dodgy dossier, no false prospectus. So Blair is trying to exorcise the ghost of “Bliar” from the post-Iraq debate. Some chance, irrespective of the findings.

- No deception of cabinet (para 953, vol 5)

Although the Blair cabinet met often in the run-up to Iraq, Chilcot is much more critical of the lack of regular cabinet committee scrutiny than this four-word assertion implies.

- No secret commitment to war whether at Crawford Texas in April 2002 or elsewhere (para 572 onwards, vol 1)

The Texas summit a year before the war is crucial to the allegation that Blair was running his own show. Did Blair promise Bush to go to war come what may? Blair insists he did not. But Blair’s newly published “I will be with you, whatever” memo in July 2002 reignites the issue.

The inquiry does not make a finding on the legal basis for military action but finds that the attorney general had concluded there was such a lawful basis by 13th March 2003 (para 933, vol 5).

Another key acquittal by Chilcot. The report does not challenge the legality of the war – crucial for Blair. But it is scathing about the process by which the legal advice evolved.

However, the report does make real and material criticisms of preparation, planning, process and of the relationship with the United States.

The report brands British policy in Iraq a failure – hardly surprisingly. In any other circumstances this would be devastating for Blair. Compared with the allegations of lying and misleading, though, the failure of British policy somehow does not loom so large.

These are serious criticisms and they require serious answers. I will respond in detail to them later this afternoon.

Blair’s two-hour press conference followed three hours after this statement was issued. Unlike Chilcot himself, the former PM went for his time-honoured masochism strategy and took as many questions from journalists as they could come up with.

I will take full responsibility for any mistakes without exception or excuse.

Neat footwork here. Blair skilfully accepts responsibility for any mistakes while not accepting that the Iraq policy was and has been a failure. David Cameron resigned when a key policy failed. Not so Blair.

I will at the same time say why, nonetheless, I believe that it was better to remove Saddam Hussein and why I do not believe this is the cause of the terrorism we see today whether in the Middle East or elsewhere in the world.

Another smart sidestep. The US would almost certainly have overthrown Saddam even if Britain had decided not to participate. It was British participation alongside George Bush’s neocons that was the central issue for many Iraq critics.

Above all I will pay tribute to our armed forces.

Prime ministers routinely praise the armed forces. But there is no reason to doubt that Blair still finds dealing with the bereaved service families the most personally harrowing legacy of the war.

I will express my profound regret at the loss of life and the grief it has caused the families, and I will set out the lessons I believe future leaders can learn from my experience.

Future British leaders will hope they can draw only one conclusion from Blair’s experience – never again. But who knows?