Sir John Chilcot is facing more pressure over his inquiry into the Iraq war after a leaked White House memo appeared to show Tony Blair backed military action a year before seeking a vote in parliament.
The document showed confidence on the part of the US that the former prime minister would “follow our lead”.
Alex Salmond, the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesman, said “the net was now closing” around Mr Blair and added to his concern over the thoroughness of the inquiry.
The memo was written for former President George W Bush by Colin Powell, former US secretary of state.
“On Iraq, Blair will be with us should military operations be necessary. He is convinced on two points; the threat is real; and success against Saddam will yield more regional success,” he wrote.
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Written in March 2002, it said Mr Blair would “present to you the strategic, tactical and public affairs lines that he believes will strengthen global support for our common cause”.
It added that Mr Blair had the presentational skills to “make a credible public case on current Iraqi threats to international peace”.
The memo, obtained by The Mail on Sunday, was written weeks before the Crawford summit between Mr Bush and Mr Blair, who has always denied that the two countries were on an unstoppable path to war at that point.
At the time, Mr Blair said: “This is a matter for considering all the options. We’re not proposing military action at this point in time.”
Mr Salmond said the memo had a bearing on evidence given to the inquiry. “The memo contradicts claims from Mr Blair that all that time he had been seeking diplomatic ways to avoid an invasion. It also adds weight to the evidence given by Sir Christopher Meyer, the former UK ambassador to the United States — to the Chilcot inquiry — that the military timetable and preparation for invasion took precedence over any diplomacy and specifically over the timetable for the weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix.”
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A spokesman for Mr Blair said the memo is “consistent with what he was saying publicly at the time”.