Mr Blair told the Inquiry that the difficulties encountered in Iraq after the invasion could not have been known in advance. We do not agree that hindsight is required. The risks of internal strife in Iraq, active Iranian pursuit of its interests, regional instability, and Al Qaeda activity in Iraq, were each explicitly identified before the invasion.

Mr Blair had been warned, however, that military action would increase the threat from Al Qaeda to the UK and to UK interests. He had also been warned that an invasion might lead to Iraq's weapons and capabilities being transferred into the hands of terrorists."

“The Chilcot inquiry’s treatment of the legality of the war is curious,” said Philippe Sands QC, an expert on international law and director of the centre on international courts and tribunals at University College London.

“It claims not to have addressed legality, yet concludes that the UK has undermined the authority of the security council, found that ‘the circumstances in which it was decided that there was a legal basis for UK military action were far from satisfactory’, and obtained 37 independent submissions which point overwhelmingly to the manifest illegality of the war.