Straw rejected advice that Iraq invasion was 'unlawful'

Jack Straw rejected advice that the invasion of Iraq would be unlawful without explicit UN authorisation.

The then foreign secretary told his chief legal adviser Sir Michael Wood he did not "accept" his judgement that a further UN mandate was needed.

Sir Michael Wood described the encounter while giving evidence to the Iraq inquiry.

Elizabeth Wilmshurst, who resigned in protest days before the invasion of Iraq, described the process as "lamentable" and lacking in transparency.

Nicholas Witchell reports.