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Iraq War was illegal: Blair’s former deputy

He also praised Labour part leader Jeremy Corbyn for apologizing on the party’s behalf.

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Davis is one of a number of MPs from several parties making the call.

Britain broke worldwide law when it invaded Iraq in 2003, its deputy prime minister at the time, John Prescott says.

“As the Deputy Prime Minister in that Government I must express my fullest apology, especially to the families of the 179 men and women who gave their lives in the Iraq War”, the 78-year-old member of the House of Lords wrote. “I haven’t seen [the motion] yet, but I think I probably would [back it]”. Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) were the basis of launching the war. The Independent understands that the party’s MPs will be meeting on Monday to discuss their position.

Davis has received support from 20 MPs including the SNP former First Minister Alex Salmond.

Blair is accused of dragging the United Kingdom into war in Iraq through blindly following the U.S. The infamous British politician is asked to account for the killing of British troops and the emergence of DAESH in Iraq.

While serving as deputy prime minister, Prescott was an ardent supporter of his boss, former Prime Minister Tony Blair, and of the invasion.

A spokesperson for Blair declined to comment on the motion.

The war’s legality was also cast into fresh doubt after the report said with the top government lawyer’s advice was “not clear” and “far from satisfactory”. The 6,000 page, 2.6 million words report took seven years to produce by a team headed by ex-civil servant Sir John Chilcot. Chilcot was asked to rule on the causes of the war and the consequences of the war, not whether Tony Blair lied or not. Its decision on the war’s legality under worldwide law was “perfunctory” and “the precise grounds on which it was made remains unclear”.

The Labour leader indicated that he would support efforts to find a parliamentary way to hold the former Prime Minister to account. Prime Minister David Cameron also said “whatever else we learn from this conflict, we must all pledge this will never happen again”.

He said: “I can look those families and the country in the eye and tell them I did not mislead them”.

While Chilcot did contain damning criticism of the decisions behind the invasion, there has been a strong emphasis that the Inquiry is “not a court of law”.

The Chilcot Inquiry, headed by Sir John Chilcot, is a British public inquiry into the nation’s role in the Iraq war.

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He said Blairs actions were “a parliamentary crime, and its time for parliament to deliver the verdict”. It said estimates of the threat posed by Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were presented with a certainty which was not justified. “Despite explicit warnings, the consequences of the invasion were underestimated and the planning for Iraq after Saddam Hussein were wholly inadequate”.

David Davis