Former attorney general Peter Goldsmith today described how he gave the "green light" for military action against Iraq just a month after expressing concerns about the legality of the war.

A senior British government lawyer warned ministers of the danger of going to war with Iraq without specific authorisation from the United Nations, the inquiry into the conflict was told today.

EXPLOSIVE evidence showing the British government was “clearly advised” the Iraq war was illegal will be disclosed at the Chilcot inquiry just days before Tony Blair gives evidence.

The British attorney general “materially” changed his advice on the legality of military action against Iraq in the final days before the invasion, the inquiry into the war was told today.

BRITISH Attorney General Peter Goldsmith yesterday denied there was any political interference in the decision by prosecutors in Northern Ireland to drop charges against three men accused of spying at Stormont.

“A STRAIGHT arrow guy,” is how one veteran US Sinn Féin sympathiser, Maureen McCullogh, continues to describe Denis Donaldson, the central figure in what must rank as Ireland’s most unusual spy story.