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Labour divisions over Tony Blair’s legacy burst into the open tonight as MPs launched a fresh bid to censure the former Prime Minister over the Iraq War.

Jeremy Corbyn has previously claimed the Commons was “misled” in the run-up to the 2003 invasion, which toppled Saddam Hussein but led to the deaths of 179 British servicemen.

Last year, he said Mr Blair could be tried for war crimes.

MPs today said the Chilcot Report, published in July, uncovered “substantial evidence of misleading information being presented by the then Prime Minister” before he ordered troops into battle.

An SNP -led motion called for a Commons committee to probe differences between what he said in public and private.

Mr Corbyn could have issued a strict three-line whip calling on his MPs to defend the former premier.

(Image: PA)

But he imposed a one-line whip, meaning it was not essential to turn up and vote.

Mr Corbyn, who has repeatedly criticised the ex-PM, was “committed elsewhere”, aides said.

But Shadow Foreign Minister Fabian Hamilton, who voted against the US-led invasion, led the defence of Mr Blair, saying he did not act in “bad faith” when making the case for war.

MPs should not “pillory or scapegoat one individual”, Mr Hamilton told the Commons.

He added: “I totally disagreed - as many others did - with Tony Blair on the Iraq War.

(Image: Getty)

“I voted against our government because I thought that our Prime Minister of the day was simply wrong.

“But never for one second did I believe he was acting in bad faith and I do not do so now.”

Labour’s Clive Efford, who also opposed the war, said: “I did not for one minute think that Tony Blair lied to this House or attempted to mislead me, I just came to a different judgment from him.

“The problem is in the minds of those who believe we were misled, there is nothing that will ever convince them - no report will ever convince them otherwise.”

But Labour MP and veteran anti-war campaigner Paul Flynn praised “139 of my comrades on the Labour benches who voted against the war”.

He added: “It was a courageous thing to do because we were under great pressure, but there were 50 others who had grave doubts about the war.

(Image: Mirrorpix/Getty Images)

“They were, in my view, bribed, bullied and bamboozled into voting the wrong way and many of them have regretted it very much since then.”

Mr Blair signalled a return to the political fray last month(DEC), claiming Brexit could be stopped. He is poised to launch a new organisation.

SNP MP Alex Salmond said: “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.”

MPs defeated the motion by 439 votes to 70, majority 369.