Legal advice on Iraq invasion 'changed'

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.

Andrew Turnbull, who was Cabinet secretary at the time, said there were important differences between the final legal opinion Peter Goldsmith presented to the Cabinet and an earlier version he gave privately to Tony Blair.

“It was not, in my view, a summary of what had been produced 10 days earlier. It was materially different in some respects because of the passage of time. Cerain things had changed,” he said.