Gordon Brown Still in Hot Seat Over Iraq

Evidence from an Iraq war enquiry claimed that U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown presided over a “complete guillotine” of defense budgets during his time as finance minister in 2003.

Opposition leader David Cameron claimed that Brown ignored the welfare of ill-equipped troops until it was “politically convenient to do otherwise.” On Wednesday morning, the Chilcot inquiry was told that Brown, when chancellor, insisted on a “complete guillotine” of defense spending in December 2003—just nine months after the invasion of Iraq was launched.

Former Ministry of Defense Permanent Secretary Sir Kevin Tebbit called the £1 billion (US$1.59 billion) cut “arbitrary.”