LIVE BLOG: Chilcot as it happens
The long-awaited report by Sir John Chilcot, probing why Britain went to war in Iraq and what lessons can be learned, was released on Wednesday.
The report has taken seven years to complete and has cost £10m.
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Chilcot says peaceful options had not been exhausted prior to going into Iraq and WMD Threat presented was not justified.
Key findings from the Iraq Inquiry:
- Peaceful options had not been exhausted prior to going into Iraq.
- The threat posed by weapons of mass destruction was not justified.
- Military action was not the last resort.
- Consequences of going into Iraq was overstated.
- Decisions on legal basis for war was unsatisfactory
- Policy on Iraq was made on 'flawed intelligence'
- Threat posed by WMD threat presented with unjustified uncertainty.
Chilcot has said:
- Legal basis to go to war with Iraq was 'unsatistfactory'
- Military action at the time was not viewed as a last resort
- Threat posed by WMD was overstated
- The consequences of invasion was 'under-estimated'
Tim Farron, the leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, told ITV News that intelligence chiefs warned that going to war in Iraq "would stoke terrorism".
Demonstrators have started gathering outside the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre in London. The protest, organised by the Stop the War Coalition, has been timed to coincide with the publication of the Iraq Inquiry.
Sir John Chilcot's inquiry into the Iraq war was supposed to be published at about 11.00am on Wednesday.
The inquiry was first announced by then prime minister Gordon Brown on 15 June 2009. The inquiry was commissioned to investigate Britain's role in the Iraq war - including in the run-up to and aftermath of the invasion which was launched in 2003.
The report has cost £10m and it will be published in 12 volumes with a total 2.6 million words.
A copy of the report was delivered to Prime Minister David Cameron at 11.00am on Tuesday.
After Chilcot makes his statement the entire report will be available online at http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/
At 12.30pm it is expected that Cameron and leader of the opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn will appear in parliament to comment on the report. Corbyn will likely apologise for the Iraq war on behalf of Labour.
Tony Blair, who was prime minister at the time of the Iraq war, is expected to be heavily criticised in the report. He is expected to give a press conference later on Wednesday to respond to its contents.