Brown under pressure over Iraq climbdown

Gordon Brown is under pressure after being forced into what the Tories called a "humiliating climbdown" on defence spending.


The Prime Minister is writing to Sir John Chilcot after admitting he wrongly claimed defence spending had risen in real terms every year when he gave evidence to the Iraq Inquiry.


The revelation has led to renewed criticism from senior military figures, who accuse Mr Brown of failing to adequately fund the armed forces as Chancellor.


Downing Street is also under pressure to explain how long Mr Brown had been aware his evidence was wrong before putting the record straight.


The Prime Minister twice told the inquiry that spending had gone up in real terms year-on-year during his five hours of evidence last month. He made the claim as he strongly denied the allegations he had starved the military of the funds it needed as it fought wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.


But House of Commons figures - produced by Tory MP Tony Baldry at Commons question time this afternoon - showed that in fact it fell in real terms in four separate years under Labour.