Brown defends Iraq invasion

Gordon Brown has mounted a staunch defence of the decision to invade Iraq despite claims that he will withdraw British troops soon after becoming Prime Minister.

The White House is said to be braced for Mr Brown to announce a scaling down of military involvement in the troubled country during his first 100 days in charge.

Many Labour MPs have been urging the Premier-in-waiting to draw a line under the controversial campaign, which is widely perceived to have blighted Tony Blair's time in Number 10.

But speaking at a Labour hustings event in Coventry, Mr Brown said he took responsibility for the choices that were taken by the Cabinet.

Responding to heckles and shouts of "Get the troops out", he accepted that the military intervention to depose Saddam Hussein had been "difficult and divisive".

He added: "The number of troops that started off was 44,000 and there are now just 7,000 and that number continues to go down. I am going to go out to Iraq and look at the situation and see what is happening."

Mr Brown said the government was working with the people of Iraq to enable them to run their own security, but did not place a timescale on when British involvement might end.

He added: "I believe that what we need to do is to combine what we are doing at a security level with economic development.

"The battle against extremism across the Middle East is one of "hearts and minds."

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