Protestors plan Iraq inquiry 'cheque' for Brown

Anti-war protesters in the UK will try to hand over a giant “bloodstained” cheque to Gordon Brown when he appears before the Iraq inquiry today.

The Stop the War Coalition said the cheque, made out for £8.5bn, was aimed at highlighting the Prime Minister’s role in the “illegal and unjustified” war.

“Gordon Brown has as much blood on his hands as Tony Blair for the illegal war in Iraq. As chancellor of the exchequer from 2003 to 2009, he was paymaster for the war.

“Stop the War will be demonstrating to protest against both his culpability for the Iraq disaster and for his escalation of the war in Afghanistan,” said Lindsey German, the group’s convener.

“We want to ensure that he cannot present himself as an innocent bystander when Blair took Britain into a war that slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.”

The anti-war group said the cost of the conflict in Iraq, ranging from military spending to long-term care of people injured in the fighting, had soared to £8.5bn.

Hundreds of protesters staged a demonstration outside the inquiry in central London when former prime minister Tony Blair gave evidence in January.