Steve Beasant

Speaking on today’s edition of the Andrew Marr Show on BBC 1 the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg said Tony Blair should be forced to give evidence in public as part of the inquiry into the Iraq war.

“If this inquiry is to have any legitimacy it must first be held in public [and] the prime architect of the decision to go to war must give his evidence in public under oath,” he said.

  Nick Clegg said most people were of the opinion the whole inquiry must be held in public “with very small exceptions”, such as if it would “endanger the lives” of intelligence officials.

  “The only two people who don’t are Alistair Campbell and Tony Blair – to cover their tracks,” he added.

Nick Clegg also slammed the redaction of MPs’ expenses documents published on Thursday.

“I was utterly dismayed like everyone else. It was like adding insult to injury from the point of view of the public,” he said.

He said expenses publication should be modeled on the Scottish system and presented “in a way that is digestible to the public not just investigative journalists”.