A defiant Tony Blair today insisted the Chilcot report had cleared him of “lies or deceit” in the run-up to the Iraq war.
The former Prime Minister was blamed by the inquiry for driving Britain to a disastrous and unnecessary war in which 179 British military personnel died.
The devastating 2.6 million word report found that the 2003 invasion failed in all of its key objectives.
It was damning of Mr Blair’s actions and accused his government of catastrophically poor planning.
In documents released in the report, it was also revealed that the former PM promised US President George W. Bush: “I’ll be with you whatever” nine months before the invasion.
But Mr Blair today issued a defiant statement insisting: “The report should lay to rest allegations of bad faith, lies or deceit.”
He said his role in the invasion was “in good faith” and claimed the report found there was “no secret commitment to war”.
Here is Mr Blair’s statement in full:
“The report should lay to rest allegations of bad faith, lies or deceit. 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.
"I note that the report finds clearly:
- That there was no falsification or improper use of Intelligence (para 876 vol 4)
- No deception of Cabinet (para 953 vol 5)
- No secret commitment to war whether at Crawford Texas in April 2002 or elsewhere (para 572 onwards vol 1)
"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)
"However the report does make real and material criticisms of preparation, planning, process and of the relationship with the United States.
"These are serious criticisms and they require serious answers.
"I will respond in detail to them later this afternoon.
"I will take full responsibility for any mistakes without exception or excuse.
"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.
"Above all I will pay tribute to our Armed Forces. 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.”
