According to the Sunday Times, which claimed yesterday to have seen a draft of Lord Butler’s report, much of the spotlight is on Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, who advised the Cabinet that the war was legal. John Scarlett, then head of the joint intelligence committee, will also face criticism.

The inquiry has been told of an apparent inconsistency, in that Lord Goldsmith cast doubt over his own advice during private conversations with fellow government law officers.

Lord Goldsmith is said to have told one senior legal figure - thought to be Sir David Calvert-Smith, the former Director of Public Prosecutions - the he shared the concerns of Elizabeth Wilmhurst, the Foreign Office legal adviser.

She resigned because she believed the war against Iraq was illegal.

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=769062004