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Iraq inquiry blog: Geoff Hoon

By Channel 4 News

Updated on 19 January 2010

Former defence secretary Geoff Hoon appears before the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war - the first ex-minister to do so. Follow the developments with our live blog.

Hoon held the defence secretary post from 1999-2005 and will be quizzed about the build-up to the invasion, but there is also speculation that he will use the opportunity to criticise Gordon Brown, after he jointly organised the recent call for a Labour leadership contest.

Mr Hoon has also been criticised by senior military figures at the inquiry for the government's handling of the preparations for war. Admiral Lord Boyce, who was the chief of the defence staff at the time, said ministers had been concerned that news of their planning would undermine efforts to get a new UN Security Council resolution requiring Saddam Hussein to give up his weapons of mass destruction.

The issue was considered so sensitive, Lord Boyce said, that he was even ordered by Mr Hoon not to discuss it with the chief of defence logistics.

For more Channel 4 News coverage of Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war
- Iraq inquiry: day by day
- No Blair 'blood undertaking' to fight in Iraq
- Iraq inquiry: Alastair Campbell quizzed
- Iraq inquiry: seats ballot for Blair
- Iraq inquiry: Chilcot defends questioning

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