Statement by former prime minister’s office comes as David Cameron calls for report to be published as soon as possible after the election

Tony Blair has said that he regrets the delay in the publication of the Chilcot report, as he rejected suggestions that he is to blame for the decision by the inquiry to wait until after the general election before publishing its findings.

As David Cameron told MPs that he found the delay “extremely frustrating”, the former prime minister issued a statement to make clear that he has gone out of his way to ensure prompt publication of the report.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ed Miliband, the Labour party leader, and David Cameron exchange criticism over the publication of the Chilcot inquiry.

The statement by a spokesperson for Blair said: “We have repeatedly said that it is not true to say that Tony Blair has caused the delay in the report’s publication.”

There was speculation that Blair had caused the delay in the publication of the report after Sir John Chilcot, the head of the inquiry, said in a letter to Cameron that he had made “substantial progress” in his negotiations with the cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood. This means that 29 of Tony Blair’s notes to US president George W Bush, “subject to a small number of essential redactions”, can be published as part of the report.

Blair’s office made clear that he had played no role in questioning the publication of the documents, suggesting that the unease was expressed entirely by the current civil service leadership. In the statement his spokesperson said: “Sir John’s letter makes reference to notes and records concerning Mr Blair, which some may interpret as an implicit suggestion that Mr Blair caused the delay, this is not true. On the contrary, he regrets this delay in its publication. Incorrect allegations and politically motivated speculation do nothing to shine a light on the issues involved. It is an independent inquiry and it should be allowed to proceed with its work.”

The statement by Blair’s office came after Cameron told Chilcot that he should be prepared to give evidence to MPs, as the prime minister called for his report to be published as soon as possible after the general election. As the former Whitehall permanent secretary told the prime minister in a letter that he “cannot give an accurate estimate” of the likely publication date, Cameron endorsed a call for Chilcot to explain the delay to MPs.

“Obviously my view is that when people are asked to appear in front of a select committee when they are public servants they should try to meet that obligation,” the prime minister said when the chairman of the foreign affairs select committee asked whether Chilcot should accept an invitation to appear before his committee.

In his reply to Sir Richard Ottaway, the prime minister said: “The most important thing right now for Chilcot and his team is to get the report ready and to make sure it can be published as soon as possible after the election.”

Cameron’s remarks came as the Chilcot report featured prominently at prime minister’s questions, after the former Northern Ireland Office permanent secretary confirmed that his long-delayed inquiry into the Iraq war will not be published until after the UK general election. In his letter to the prime minister Chilcot said there was no realistic chance of evaluating the responses from those criticised in the draft report before that date.

Chilcot said individuals who were going to be criticised in the report were “currently being given the opportunity to respond to provisional criticism”.

Blair was challenged about the Iraq war during an appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The former prime minister said: “You can have a debate on whether it’s the right or wrong decision. But I’d also point out, and I think many people in Iraq would agree, that Saddam Hussein wasn’t exactly a force for stability, peace and prosperity for his country, and was responsible for killing many, many hundreds of thousands of people.”

Cameron said the report should have been published years ago, as he sought to step up the pressure on Ed Miliband by pointing out that he had voted against a proposal to set up an inquiry in 2006. The Chilcot enquiry was set up by Gordon Brown in 2009, by which time Miliband was a member of the cabinet.

Unlike Cameron, who voted in favour of the Iraq war in 2003, Miliband was an opponent of the war. The Labour leader did not become an MP until 2005.

Cameron said: “We want to see this Iraq inquiry published promptly. But let me make this point. If everyone in this house, including members opposite, had voted to set up the Iraq inquiry when we proposed, it would have been published years ago. So perhaps he could start by recognising his own regret at voting against the establishment of the inquiry.”

Miliband said: “The inquiry was established six years ago, after our combat operations had ended. Frankly, my views on the Iraq war are well known and I want this inquiry published.”

Sir Peter Tapsell, the Father of the House of Commons, who once served as an adviser to the late prime minister Sir Anthony Eden whose time in Downing Street was cut short by the Suez Crisis in 1956, said that the Iraq inquiry has taken longer than those into the Crimean war and the Dardanelles campaign in the first world war.

Tapsell said: “Does [the prime minister] fully recognise the contrast in efficiency between the inquiries into the Crimean war and the Dardanelles campaign when compared with the disgraceful incompetence of the Chilcot enquiry into widely held suspicions that Mr Blair conspired with President George W Bush several months before March 2003 and then systematically sought to falsify the evidence on which that action was taken?”

Cameron replied: “I bow to the Father of the House’s knowledge about these previous enquiries. I would say that one thing all three have in common is I am not responsible for the timing of any of them. It is extremely frustrating that this report cannot come out more quickly. But the responsibility lies squarely with the inquiry team. It is an independent inquiry, it would not be right for the prime minister to try and interfere with that inquiry.”