No need for war inquiry, says Cook

Former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has pulled back from his demands for a judicial inquiry into the war with Iraq.

Mr Cook, who quit the Cabinet over the war, said the probe was now unnecessary because the Hutton inquiry had shown Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction.

But he said Government scientist Dr David Kelly could still be alive if a judicial inquiry had been held earlier.

Mr Cook called for the inquiry in May. But he said there would be nothing to gain from a further probe as long as the Government learned the lessons of the war and signalled it would not act in the same way again.

He told BBC 1's Breakfast with Frost: "I think it would have been very useful if we had it then because then we could possibly have spared the tragedy of David Kelly's suicide and we wouldn't have needed the Hutton inquiry.

"But I am not sure now a judicial inquiry would tell us any more than we already know. We know Saddam was not a threat, we know there were no weapons of mass destruction. We also know, tragically, we were not prepared to know what to do next when we went in."

Mr Cook said he was astonished the coalition had not been better prepared for the aftermath of the war.

And he criticised ministers' "evangelical" belief in the military action.

Mr Cook said Prime Minister Tony Blair believed "too passionately" in the war and he should have paid more attention to opponents of action.

Mr Cook said the Hutton inquiry had revealed the Government did not believe Iraq had WMD. The Government had meant battlefield and small-calibre weapons, he said.

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