PM under pressure over Iraq Inquiry evidence

As the Chilcot Enquiry entered its fourth week SNP Westminster leader and foreign affairs spokesman, Angus Robertson MP, challenged Gordon Brown to face the enquiry before the General Election to finally tell the public the truth about a war fought in their name.

This weekend a YouGov poll for the Sunday Times showed 52% of people believed Blair deliberately misled the country over the war and 23% thought he should be tried as a war criminal. The poll also revealed 49% of people believed Campbell did not tell the truth about the Iraq war at the time and was still not telling the truth.

On Monday Tony Blair's ex-chief of staff Jonathan Powell defended the "sofa government".

On Tuesday former Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon revealed the extent to which Gordon Brown's Treasury under-funded front line troops.  

On Wednesday Angus Robertson MP, directly challenged Gordon Brown to give evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry before the General Election. In response, the Prime Minister revealed that he had written to Sir John Chilcot to say that he was “happy to give evidence at any time”.

On Thursday former foreign secretary Jack Straw admitted that the inability to find weapons of mass destruction “undermined trust” in the UK Government.

Commenting Mr Robertson said:

“Here we have the former foreign secretary himself admitting that the inability to find weapons of mass destruction “undermined trust”.  It’s no wonder the public can’t believe a word Labour says.

“Jack Straw is a still a Cabinet Minster.  If, as he says, the public lost confidence in Labour years ago, why should we presume it is any different now? 

“This weekend’s damning poll - which showed over half of people believe Tony Blair deliberately misled the country over the war and 23% think he should be tried as a war criminal - is proof the public aren’t prepared to tolerate Labour lies any longer. They deserve to know the truth about a war fought in their name.

“So far before Chilcot we’ve seen Alasdair Campbell spinning himself in circles and various advisers who weren’t there when the big decisions were made. Now we need to hear from Tony Blair, the man who made the decision to lead the country to war, and from Gordon Brown, the man who signed the cheques to make it happen. 

“The Prime Minister has now put on the record that he has no objections to appearing at anytime - there must be no delay in setting a date to ensure that Gordon Brown accounts for his actions before the election.

“Can the public trust Labour’s word on this at least?”