London, January 22: Prime Minister Gordon Brown has agreed to appear at Britain’s Iraq war inquiry before a general election due by June, rather than after as previously expected, the probe’s chairman said Friday.
John Chilcot had originally scheduled Brown’s appearance after the election to avoid it being used for party political purposes but said he had offered Brown the chance to appear ahead of national polls “as a matter of fairness.”
“The prime minister replied to me this morning to say that he will be happy to agree dates from a range we have proposed over the next two months,” he said.
Extracts of Brown’s letter to Chilcot were released by Downing Street. “I offered to give my evidence at any time,” the premier wrote.
“You have proposed a range of dates in the next two months. I will be happy to agree a date that is to the convenience of the inquiry.”
Explaining his initial decision not to call Brown until after the election, which is expected to be held on May 6, Chilcot said he did not want the inquiry to be used as “a platform for political advantage by any political party”.
“From the outset, we have made it clear that we wish to stay outside party politics,” he added.
Chilcot said that David Miliband and Douglas Alexander, Britain’s current foreign secretary and international development secretary respectively, would also be called to give evidence before the election.
The two were both government ministers at the time of the invasion, but with lower-level responsibilities relating to domestic, not foreign, policy.
Brown’s predecessor Tony Blair, who controversially backed US president George W. Bush in invading Iraq in 2003, is due to appear before the British inquiry next Friday.
The prime minister has faced growing calls from his political opponents to testify, which intensified this week with accusations Brown — finance minister during the conflict — had starved the military of vital funds.
The BBC and Daily Mirror newspaper both reported Brown would appear before the elections.
British media said Brown could be questioned late next month or early March, which could prove uncomfortable for his governing Labour party which will be on the campaign trail against the opposition Conservatives, tipped to win power.
Pressure has mounted on the prime minister to testify recently as figures central to Britain’s involvement in the war have given evidence that has touched on his role.
Former defence secretary Geoff Hoon told the inquiry this week that as finance minister, Brown failed to fund the forces properly in the years before the conflict and then cut their budget following the invasion.
And Tony Blair’s former communications chief Alastair Campbell told the probe last week that Brown was one of the “key ministers” his boss consulted in the run-up to war.
Foreign affairs spokesman for the opposition Conservatives, William Hague, praised the decision to call Brown to give evidence.
“It is only right that the prime minister has been called to give evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry before the general election,” he said.
“The inquiry and the British public need to hear the full facts from everyone involved and as (finance minister) at the time he clearly has questions to answer.”
The Chilcot inquiry was announced by Brown in June, honouring a pledge that the run-up to and conduct of the conflict would be examined once British troops pulled out.
Brown’s predecessor Blair faced intense public hostility after backing then US president George W. Bush in the invasion and Blair’s resulting unpopularity was one of the main reasons which led to him stepping down in 2007.
—Agencies