Paul Burstow MP welcomes pressure put on Gordon Brown to volunteer to give evidence at the Iraq Inquiry

8.52.15pm GMT Wed 13th Jan 2010

Paul Burstow MP has welcomed the pressure being put on Gordon Brown to volunteer to give evidence to the Iraq Inquiry.

Nick Clegg asked the best question of the day when he demanded the Prime Minister volunteered to give evidence to the Iraq inquiry before the general election so voters could make a judgement about his role in the war.

Brown sidestepped, but for the first time in an age, declared he stood by the decisions he and the rest of the Cabinet had made over that war.

Paul Burstow said, "The Iraq war is the single biggest mistake this Government has made. By taking Britain into a costly and illegal war Labour and Conservative MPs helped to make the world a less safe place and put Afghanistan on the back burner with disastrous consequences."

Following today's Prime Minister's Questions, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg is writing to Gordon Brown, urging him to indicate to the Chilcot Inquiry that he would prefer to appear before it ahead of the election.

The text of the letter is as follows:

Dear Gordon,

I am writing to urge you to indicate immediately to Sir John Chilcot that it is your strong preference to go before the Iraq Inquiry ahead of the General Election.

Following developments yesterday at Alastair Campbell's hearing, your personal role in the decisions that led to the war in Iraq has now come under the spotlight. The notion that your hearing should take place after the election in order that the Inquiry remains outside of party politics therefore no longer holds. On the contrary, the sense that you have been granted special treatment because of your position as Prime Minister will only serve to undermine the perceived independence of the Committee.

As I said to you across the floor of the Commons today, people have a right to know the truth about the part you played in this war before they cast their verdict on your Government's record. I urge you to confirm publicly that should Sir John Chilcot invite you to give evidence to the Inquiry ahead of the election you will agree to do so.

Nick Clegg