Emails reveal Blair's 'deal' with George Bush over Iraq war was made 'a year before invasion'

A White House memo has revealed a "deal" between Tony Blair and George Bush over the Iraq war, according to the Mail on Sunday.

The leak shows Blair promised to sign up to the conflict a year before the invasion began, the newspaper claims.

The memo from the then Secretary of State Colin Powell to President George Bush was written on March 28, 2002.

In the memo, Powell informs the US President that Blair "will be with us" on military action.

The documents are from a batch of emails held on the private server of Democratic candidate for president Hillary Clinton, which she was forced to reveal via US courts.

Mr Blair's spokesman told the newspaper the memo's content was consistent with what he had said publicly before.

The for PM told the Chilcot Inquiry that Mr Bush would have understood he was ready to support military action if the diplomatic route was exhausted.

The briefing note, prepared for Mr Bush in March 2002 ahead of his Crawford summit with Mr Blair later that year, emerged after a court ruling in the US led to the publication of thousands of emails received by Hillary Clinton.