Top brass 'made threat to quit over defence cuts'

General Lord Walker of Aldringham, then head of the armed forces, said the top brass "drew a line" halfway down a list of projects facing the axe and warned Treasury officials to go no further.

He said defence chiefs were not happy with any of the cuts, pointing out that there was a 38 per cent shortfall in helicopter availability at the time.

General Lord Walker also said military commanders were "anxious" about the legality of the Iraq war until attorney general Lord Goldsmith gave clear advice that it would be lawful.

The inquiry has already heard evidence from former Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon that the Treasury, under Gordon Brown as Chancellor, failed to fund the forces properly in the years before the conflict and then slashed their budget after the invasion.

General Lord Walker said things came to a head in early 2004, when the Treasury gave military chiefs a tough target for budget cuts. "There was indeed a list of stuff that we were having to make decisions about and I think we drew a line somewhere halfway down the page and said, 'if you go any further than that you will probably have to look for a new set of chiefs'."

The former head of the armed forces confirmed that helicopters were included in the list but were "above the line".

He added: "It makes it sound as though we were happy with what was above the line. We weren't happy with any of it."

The inquiry also heard Ministers were warned of a "serious risk" the military would not have all the equipment it needed to invade Iraq in March 2003 because of the rush to war.

And defence chiefs were worried about the legality of the war.

Lord Goldsmith advised on March 7, 2003 that a "reasonable case" could be made for launching an attack without a further UN Security Council resolution.

He was then asked by chief of the defence staff Admiral Lord Boyce to come up with a definitive "yes or no" verdict on whether the war would be legal, which he did 10 days later.

General Lord Walker, who was head of the Army when Britain was preparing for the war, said Lord Goldsmith's final advice put military concerns to rest.

He told the inquiry: "Up until we got the letter – it was almost a one-liner – saying we were legal, we were all anxious about it." The inquiry continues.

'Time too short' to prepare invasion

The UK head of the armed forces told the inquiry military chiefs had to rush preparations for the invasion and there were problems in obtaining vital equipment for front-line forces.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup said it would have made

a "significant difference" if they had been given the six months considered necessary to prepare for a large deployment, but had just four.

"We simply didn't have enough time, as it turned out, to do everything we needed to do before the operation started."