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Gordon Brown caved in to huge pressure today as he signalled that the Iraq war inquiry could be partially held in public.
In what critics immediately dubbed a U-turn, the Prime Minister said he had no objection to families of killed servicemen giving their evidence openly.
Mr Brown wrote to inquiry chief Sir John Chilcot to say witnesses could give evidence on oath - a key demand of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.
The premier advised Sir John to "hold an open session" to explain the scope of his probe.
Downing Street today said that Mr Brown had never viewed the public-private nature of the hearings as "an issue of theology".
But the change of stance followed days of criticism from military chiefs and intelligence experts and fears that Labour MPs were ready to rebel next week on a Commons motion demanding a more open inquiry.
A further blow was dealt by former Cabinet Secretary Lord Butler, who used a Lords debate on Iraq to allege that "the Government is putting its own political interest before the national interest".
Lord Butler, who headed the landmark probe into intelligence blunders in the run-up to the war, declared that Parliament had to be given a full say over the remit and public nature of the new inquiry.
Lord Butler argued for a "truth and reconciliation"-style element to the inquiry which would allow critics to air their concerns over what has been called Britain's worst foreign policy disaster since Suez.
Lord Butler's own privately held hearings found devastating holes in intelligence.
In another embarrassment for the premier, the head of the Army said he favoured more public sessions.
General Sir Richard Dannatt also revealed he had not been consulted about the inquiry - despite a Downing Street spokesman's claim yesterday that military chiefs and the MoD had been "fully consulted".
The Chief of the General Staff told the BBC: "I wasn't privy to the discussions about how this inquiry was going to be done."
He added: "The option of part-in-public, part-in-private has a lot of merit."
Reader views (9)
brown is a man for all seasons and blows in the wind, which given the stench of corrupt duplicity seems to blow mostly from the gasworks.
- M.O'Brien, london.uk, 18/06/2009 20:20
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In other words you will only hear what we want you to hear.
- John Smith, London , England, 18/06/2009 17:29
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'The premier advised Sir John to "hold an open session" to explain the scope of his probe.'
Just one session? Since genuine military intelligence seems to have had little to do with the reasons for the invasion of Iraq, then a strong case would have to be made for any part of this inquiry to be held in private.
- Ian Fantom, Newbury, UK, 18/06/2009 16:18
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How can this excuse for a Prime Minister so misjudge what the electorate want and expect. This is another in a never ending line of misjudgements. He just does not get it. After his performance at Prime ministers Questions yesterday , when he boasted about increasing spending for the next few years, despite the mountains of debt he has lumbered us with , I despair.
Surely David Cameron was right in saying that he can not fool the electorate and that he is unfit for purpose.
Come the Election I can not believe anyone in their right mind could think of returning Brown and a government that must go down as one of the worst in history.
- Ian Glen., Durham. England., 18/06/2009 15:45
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He does more U-turns than a London cabbie.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, the Scottish one, 18/06/2009 13:55
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Brown has done so many U-turns he must now be dizzy as well as daft. This government is a laughing stock throughout the world. A year is a very long time to wait before we can kick labour MPs out of office.
- R.F., Yorks, UK, 18/06/2009 13:53
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U-turn Gormless Brown does it again!
IF his idea of being "more open" and "more transparent" and "listening to the people" is holding the Iraq war probe in secret and blacking out 99% of MP's expenses detail - I certainly wopuld NOT like to see Gormless Brown running a jackboot autocracy.
The apology for a human being is an insult to humanity.
- Reuben Camara, Morecambe UK, 18/06/2009 11:07
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So this U-turn will follow the Gurkha U-turn that followed the YouTube expenses U-turn.
How is it possible for someone who claims to be listening to get it so wrong again and again and again?
- Manny Goldstein, London, UK, 18/06/2009 10:19
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It seems as though the PM is hard-wired always to take the wrong decision, being completely out of touch with the public mood and having lost all control over his colleagues. Here was a chance to consult more and be more transparent and, again, he's blown it. His constantly repeated rhetoric about 'doing the right thing' and 'concentrating on the big issues' is simply a joke when one can see, on a daily basis, the ongoing shambles of his administration and its warring factions.
- John, Richmond, UK, 18/06/2009 08:51
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