Tony Blair ‘not straight’ with UK over Iraq, says Chilcot

Media captionBlair ‘not straight’ with country over Iraq, says Sir John Chilcot

Tony Blair was not “straight with the nation” about his decisions in the run up to the Iraq War, the chairman of the inquiry into the war has told the BBC.

Speaking for the first time since publishing his report a year ago, Sir John Chilcot discussed why he thinks the former PM made those decisions.

He said the evidence Mr Blair gave the inquiry was “emotionally truthful” but he relied on beliefs rather than facts.

A spokesman for Mr Blair said “all these issues” had been dealt with.

They added that Sir John had also made clear that he believed Mr Blair had “not departed from the truth”.

In a wide-ranging, exclusive interview with the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg, Sir John also talked about Mr Blair’s state of mind during the inquiry and his relationship with the then US President George W Bush in the build-up to the 2003 conflict.

• In full: Transcript of Chilcot interview
• Chilcot on Blair, Bush and Iraq – a year on
• Chilcot report: Findings at-a-glance
• Iraq Inquiry: Timeline of key moments

Sir John also admitted that at the start of the inquiry he had “no idea” how long it would take, but defended its conduct and the seven years it took to complete.

The inquiry concluded that Mr Blair overstated the threat posed by Iraq leader Saddam Hussein and the invasion was not the “last resort” action presented to Parliament, when it backed the action, and the public.

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