The Conservatives will today seek to force a Commons vote on their call for an independent inquiry into the Iraq war, which started five years ago.

William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, yesterday said ministers should "be in no doubt that if they do not commence this inquiry, the Conservative government that replaces them most certainly will". He added: "The issue now on an inquiry is 'If not now, when?' Our remaining 4,000 troops in Iraq are in an 'overwatch' role, and they can no longer be used by ministers as a reason to put this off."