New Labour leader Ed Miliband today conceded the conflict in Iraq had divided the country and said Tony Blair's government was "wrong" to go to war.
"I criticise nobody faced with making the toughest of decisions and I honour our troops who fought and died there. But I do believe that we were wrong. Wrong to take Britain to war and we need to be honest about that.
"Wrong because that war was not a last resort, because we did not build sufficient alliances and because we undermined the United Nations.
Tony Woodley, joint leader of Unite, said Mr Miliband had addressed the "illegal" war in Iraq, adding: "At long last, we have an acknowledgement that the Iraq war was a stain on the character of our party."