Jeremy Corbyn to stay away from debate called by SNP on whether former prime minister misled MPs in run-up to invasion

Labour MPs are expected to be split on Wednesday over whether to back a cross-party motion calling for Tony Blair to be held to account for his role in the Iraq war after he was criticised by the Chilcot report.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader and long-term critic of Blair, is expected to stay away from the debate called by the SNP but other Labour MPs are likely to turn up to fiercely defend the former prime minister’s record.

There is only a one-line whip on attendance by Labour MPs but those who turn up are expected to vote against.

The motion reads that the Chilcot inquiry “provided substantial evidence of misleading information being presented by the then prime minister and others on the development of the then government’s policy towards the invasion of Iraq”. It goes on to call for parliamentary committees of the house to investigate and take appropriate action.

In addition to the SNP, the motion is backed by MPs from across the Commons including several from Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green party, Plaid Cymru and the SDLP.

Alex Salmond, the SNP former first minister of Scotland, released a report by a Cambridge academic, Dr Glen Rangwala, which examines the contrast between Blair’s public statements to parliament and his private correspondence with the then US president, George W Bush.

Before the debate on Wednesday afternoon, Salmond said: “MPs from parties from across the House of Commons have put their political differences aside in a stand to call for parliament to investigate the extent to which this house was held in such blatant contempt.

“Blair’s premeditated and calculated commitment to Bush that ‘I will be with you whatever’ will forever ring loud for the millions who marched against the war, to the families of dead soldiers and to hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who lost their lives due to an illegal invasion based on deception and deceit.

“At a time when Blair is planning his political comeback, it is high time that this parliament and its committees at long last brought this dark stain on UK foreign policy to a close by investigating how such grave misleading occurred and taking the appropriate action to avoid it happening again.”

Caroline Lucas, the co-leader of the Green party, urged the Labour leadership to vote in favour of the motion.

“Top figures in the Labour party like Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell fought long and hard against the Iraq war, and have called for those who led us into the disastrous conflict to be held to account. To now back away from taking the action to match their words would be deeply disappointing and would damage the prospects of learning serious lessons from what went wrong in the run-up to war in Iraq,” Lucas said.

“Labour should not shy away from their role in Iraq, and shouldn’t be protecting Blair and his allies from being held to account for the actions which led this country into military intervention. We must learn lessons from the Iraq disaster. That’s why I’m working with MPs from across the political divide in calling on the public administration select committee of the house to further examine the lack of any process of accountability following the damning evidence presented by the Chilcot report. We were taken to war in a duplicitous way, and our political system must match that knowledge with a process that holds those responsible to account.”