Call for 'full' Iraq withdrawal

The Liberal Democrats have repeated their demands for an "early and full" withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Speaking ahead of this week's fifth anniversary of the war, party leader Nick Clegg said it was one of the biggest mistakes in British foreign policy.

"On this anniversary of the greatest strategic failure in British foreign policy in the post-war period, both Labour and the Conservatives must learn from their fateful decision to back George Bush's invasion of Iraq," he said.

"Never again should the objections of millions of British citizens be so lightly ignored. Never again should we blindly follow instructions from the White House. Never again should we do such untold damage to the international rule of law.

"It is now time to recast British foreign policy in Britain's interests, not those of Washington, starting with an early and full withdrawal of all remaining British troops in Iraq."

The Conservatives also called for a full inquiry into the war, with shadow foreign secretary William Hague saying that "clarity" was needed on the future for Britain's deployment.

"We do need a bit of clarity from the government now about exactly what the role of those troops is and exactly how their numbers are going to change over the coming year," he told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show.

"There seems to be some confusion about whether there numbers will come down further."

Hague said it was "very important" to agree a Privy Council inquiry into the "origins and conduct" of the Iraq war.

"If we are not going to start it now, five years on from the beginning of the war, then when on earth would we have such an inquiry?" he added.

"Lessons have got to be learned, and visibly learned, and we have got to start on that process now. We will be raising this again in Parliament in the coming weeks."