Brown hint on Iraq inquiry move

Gordon Brown would be willing to give evidence in public to the Iraq inquiry if national security considerations are met, his spokesman has said.

The comments came ahead of a Commons debate on the issue in which the Tories are calling for him and Tony Blair to appear in public before the inquiry.

The Tories tabled the debate after Mr Brown told MPs it would be in private.

Mr Brown has since said some hearings could be open but the opposition has pressed him to give further assurance.

"If those considerations concerning national security are met, then of course the prime minister would have no difficulty in giving evidence in public," the prime minister's spokesman said.

The Commons debate is now under way and is expected to conclude with a vote at about 1900 BST.

'Complete mess'

Announcing the long-awaited inquiry into the run-up, conduct and aftermath of the 2003 invasion last week, Mr Brown told MPs it would be held in private for national security reasons.

But, amid criticism from some military figures and Lord Butler, the author of the last report into Iraq, he wrote to Sir John and told him he could hold some public sessions if he chose to.

Sir John replied that he felt it was "essential" to hold as much as possible in public - while protecting national security and the need to get "candour" from witnesses.

Mr Cameron said his party had been pushing for an inquiry for three years and when the government had finally announced it, they had made a "complete mess of it".

"The government have only made some changes because of the pressure from the Conservatives but they are doing this hand to mouth and making it up as they go along," he told the BBC.

"They need to come to the House of Commons and say it is predominantly public, they need a wider membership, they need military experience and they need to guarantee that Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Alastair Campbell [Tony Blair's former press secretary] give evidence in public."

Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said Mr Brown, in his correspondence with Sir John Chilcot, had made concessions on the public aspects of the inquiry but he now wanted to hear the government reaffirm this in Parliament.

"We want to hear what the guidelines are going to be," he told the BBC.

A Downing Street spokesman said Mr Brown would cooperate fully with the Iraq inquiry, including giving evidence in public if required but he said it would be up to Sir John to decide who to call as witnesses.

Earlier Mr Brown denied making a U-turn in accepting some of the inquiry could be held in public.

He told the BBC he wanted the inquiry to have "all evidence that is necessary" including confidential material.

'National interest'

"I'm trying to find a way of getting an inquiry that can satisfy people that we're doing everything in our power to get to the truth while at the same time I think everybody understands ... you've got to take into account national security considerations and that you've got serving military who will want to give evidence .. sometimes in private."

He pointed out the Conservatives had been asking for a Franks-style inquiry - a reference to the committee that reviewed the Falklands War - which was partly held in private.

Mr Cameron and the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg have met Sir John to discuss the format of the inquiry.

Mr Clegg was told Tony Blair would be asked to give some evidence in public and that witnesses would not be made to give evidence under oath as it was a non-judicial inquiry, but an equivalent format would be found.

Former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell said there should be a "presumption" that Mr Blair and other key figures in the decision to go to war should give evidence in public unless national security interests dictated otherwise.

"The important thing is not to confuse government embarrassment with the national interest," he said.