The Government has today been forced to publish the secret first draft of the infamous dodgy dossier which led the country into war with Iraq.

Ministers have fought through the courts for three years to prevent the revelation of the draft, written in September 2002 by John Williams, then-head of communications at the Foreign Office.

The final dossier became notorious amid allegations by the BBC that it had been “sexed up” with the insertion of the misleading claim that Saddam Hussein had been poised to launch weapons of mass leading.

Ultimately, the row led to the suicide of Government scientist Dr David Kelly, said to be the BBC’s source for the claim.

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The subsequent Hutton inquiry largely cleared Downing Street spin doctor Alastair Campbell of responsibility for his death, but the report was labelled a whitewash, as the Williams draft continued to be kept from the public.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, has finally published the draft in response to a Freedom of Information request from charity worker Chris Ames following a ruling by the information tribunal, after deciding not to exercise his ministerial powers of veto.

Ministers had argued that publishing the draft would jeopardise the confidentiality - of advice given to them by civil servants.

Mr Williams, who has since left the Foreign Office and long argued for the draft’s publication, today said he wished he had never written the memo as he had argued at the time against the invasion.

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