Summary

  • UK went to war before peaceful options exhausted and military action was "not last resort", Chilcot report says

  • Invasion in 2003 was based on “flawed intelligence and assessments” that went unchallenged

  • Threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were "presented with certainty that was not justified"

  • Former PM Tony Blair says decision for action made "in good faith" and he takes "full responsibility for any mistakes"

  • Families of Britons killed during Iraq War say conflict was "a fiasco" and do not rule out legal action

  • PM David Cameron says "lessons must be learned" and announces two-day Commons debate next week

  • Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says war was "act of military aggression launched on a false pretence"

Live Reporting

Mario Cacciottolo, Emma Atkinson, Alex Kleiderman and Lauren Turner

  1. 'Military action... was not a last resort'

    Sir John Chilcot says the inquiry looked at whether it was "right and necessary" to invade Iraq "and whether the UK could - and should - have been better prepared for what followed".

    We have concluded that the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. Military action at that time was not a last resort."

  2. Sir John Chilcot about to speak

    Sir John Chilcot is about to speak - you can watch his statement live on the BBC News Channel.

  3. 'Don't pin all blame on Tony Blair'

    Bill Stewardson, whose son Alex Green was killed in Iraq in 2008, said he could not understand why some people were focusing their criticism on Tony Blair.

    This whole thing's been blown out of all proportion into some sort of media circus. I'm not particularly bothered about Blair's head on a stick or careers being ruined, people being sent to The Hague - which is being banded about and is quite ridiculous. However, if it turns out that some individual has acted illegally, they should be taken to task.

    Tony Blair didn't wake up one Tuesday morning, yawn and think, 'I know, let's go and invade Iraq.' A long, long process was gone through, there were many, many advisers, other nations took part in that decision, the whole of Parliament voted for that action to be taken and I'm absolutely staggered that this is being hung round the neck of one person."

  4. Sir John Chilcot due to speak shortly

    We have been told that Sir John Chilcot will begin making his statement at 11:05 BST - so in about five minutes. 

  5. The weightlifter who attacked Saddam's statue

    Kadhim al-Jabbouri

    Kadhim al-Jabbouri was a champion weightlifter in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, who attacked a statue of Saddam Hussein with a sledgehammer. He told the BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen that he now wishes he hadn't. 

  6. Protesters gather in London

    Protesters have been gathering outside the Queen Elizabeth II centre in central London, where Sir John Chilcot will be releasing his report into the Iraq War shortly. 

    A protester with a Tony Blair mask and red paintReuters

  7. 'Families owed apology over Iraq War'

    A Chinook helicopter hovers above British soldiers in Iraq in 2003AFP

    Families of soldiers killed in the Iraq War deserve apologies from government, a retired Army captain says.

  8. Soldiers 'afraid' to say they served in Iraq

    Captain Doug Beattie, now an Ulster Unionist Party MLA, was a Regimental Sergeant Major in the Royal Irish Regiment. He said many soldiers who served in Iraq are "afraid" to say they were involved in the invasion. 

    I think the biggest legacy for many soldiers in truth, is the mental scars of the conflict, those mental scars that they bring back. And you know, there's something about fighting a just war when the nation is proud of you for doing that, which helps people.

    But when you fight a war where the nation is now pointing the finger and saying 'wrong, illegal', then that's going to affect you even more. And I think the mental strains and the mental scars on many people who fought in Iraq are very prevalent now.

    And many soldiers are afraid to raise their head and say 'I fought in Iraq' because it's viewed on as something not good."

  9. Iraq War - how did it start?

    Victoria Derbyshire programme tweets:

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  10. Timetable of the day's events

    Here is a rundown of what will be happening today.

    • 11:05 - Sir John Chilcot will make a statement on his report and his findings
    • 11:35 - The report will be published on the internet
    • 11:45 - Families of soldiers killed in Iraq will hold a press conference
    • 12:00 - Prime Minister’s Questions, where David Cameron may face questions about the report's contents 
    • 12:30 - David Cameron is due to give a formal statement on the Iraq Inquiry, and that will be followed by a statement from the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn

    Later today, Tony Blair is expected to give his reaction to the report.

  11. Iraq Inquiry: Families 'driven by desire' to get proper answers

    The author of a book based on the history of Britain's role in the Iraq war has said families have been "driven by the desire" to get answers about the Iraq war.

    Tim Ripley speaks ahead of Sir John Chilcot (pictured) releasing the report

    Sir John Chilcot led the inquiry into the Iraq war and the findings are due to be published later.

    Lancaster-based author of Operation Telic, Tim Ripley,  said: "The people on the receiving end feel bitter they've never had proper answers when they asked about how their relatives died.

    "They didn't feel they were being told the truth so that has driven the desire to get to the bottom of what went on."

  12. 'Iraq was a shameful disaster'

    Gavin Shuker, Labour MP tweets:

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  13. The Chilcot report - size comparison

    The Press Association has created a graphic showing the sheer size of the document that is the Chilcot report into the Iraq War. 

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  14. Countdown to Sir John Chilcot

    A reminder that there's just under an hour to go before Sir John Chilcot will be making a statement on his report into the Iraq War - a document that was supposed to take one year to compile, but has actually been seven years in the making.

  15. 'Let us not forget' dead civilians and troops

    Caroline Lucas, former Green Party leader, tweets:

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  16. 'We should remember soldiers and Iraqi civilians'

    Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland tweets:

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  17. 'I'm just disgusted at Tony Blair'

    More from family members of soldiers killed in the Iraq War. 

    Rose Gentle's son was killed just three weeks after arriving in Iraq in 2004 - she holds Tony Blair responsible. 

    I'm just disgusted at him because if you look at Iraq just now, Iraq's actually worse than what it was before we even went in. And I don't think he has any remorse at all for anybody, I think he just had his heart set and his mind made up with George Bush to go in, doesn't matter what anybody was thinking or saying."

  18. 'We shattered Iraqi society'

    Colonel Tim Collins was an army commander who led The Royal Irish Battle Group into Iraq.

    When we arrived, we disbanded the Iraqi military. In doing so, we shattered Iraqi society, created an insurgency of such efficiency that it rages on - even as we sit here 13 years later. But that sheer incompetence has cost us those Iraqi lives, has cost those British lives and the responsibility must lie firmly with the people who made the decision."

  19. Mother's hope for Iraq Inquiry 'truth'

    Gordon GentleGentle family

    Nineteen-year-old Gordon Gentle was a fusilier with Royal Highland, 1st Battalion

    The mother of a Scottish serviceman killed in Iraq says she hopes the Chilcot report will reveal the "truth" of why Britain invaded Iraq in 2003.

  20. 'Lack of planning for the aftermath'

    Emma Sky, a former British diplomat in Iraq, was appointed to run Kirkuk in the north of the country after the invasion by UK and US forces. She has been speaking ahead of the publication of the Chilcot report into the Iraq War.

    "My own personal example shows the lack of planning for the aftermath. I mean, people like myself just turned up as volunteers. The majority were from America but there was a significant contingent from Britain.

    And when, you know, I arrived, there was no structure for me to fit into. I had no job description, nobody ever told me how to run a province, I was given no direction at all."