The long-awaited Chilcot report into the Iraq war has been scathing in its criticism of all levels of government - and the county's MPs are equally as damning.

Ministers from Prime Minister Tony Blair downwards, Whitehall mandarins and senior army officers all came in for criticism in Sir John Chilcot's seven-year inquiry into the conflict.

Thirteen years after British troops crossed into Iraq and seven years after the inquiry began work, Sir John Chilcot delivered his verdict on the UK's most controversial military engagement of the post war era.

Sir John found that the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before "peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted" and "military action at that time was not a last resort".

He ruled that Mr Blair presented the case for war in 2003 with "a certainty which was not justified" based on "flawed" intelligence about the country's supposed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) which was not challenged as it should have been.

Sir John's report also says that Saddam Hussein posed "no imminent threat" at the time of the invasion.

Former soldier and Penrith and the Border MP Rory Stewart is one of the few senior politicians now in post to have spent time in Iraq after the invasion.

“We just didn't know enough about Iraq,” said Mr Stewart, who served in Iraq as a deputy governor.

“It was almost impossible to plan for the peace effectively. It's not a case that we'd have been able to rebuild the Iraq state if we'd been smarter.

“The operation was doomed from the beginning. It's vital we learn lessons from this. Above all it's about how you challenge these things.

"What was particularly unforgivable was that it was obvious within four months what a mess we were in - but what I find difficult was how reluctant anyone was to admit failure and change course.”

The Chilcot inquiry report reserves particular criticism for the risk placed on the lives of British troops, including finding that the Ministry of Defence was slow to respond to the threat of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) to troops, and that delays in providing better-protected patrol vehicles "should not have been tolerated".

Sir John said: "We have concluded that the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. Military action at that time was not a last resort.

"We have also concluded that the judgments about the severity of the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction - WMD - were presented with a certainty that was not justified.

"Despite explicit warnings, the consequences of the invasion were under-estimated. The planning and preparations for Iraq after Saddam Hussein were wholly inadequate. The Government failed to achieve its stated objectives."

Carlisle MP John Stevenson said that sending your country's military to war is the biggest decision that any government can make.

“Therefore it's incumbent on any government to exhaust all the alternative options wherever possible,” he said.

“The big thing here is that there was a complete lack of preparation for two things: a lack of preparation for the military; and secondly a lack of preparation for the consequences that would follow after the war.”

Former Carlisle MP Eric Martlew was among the minority of Labour rebels who voted against the military action - a decision prompted by the government's failure to win a second UN resolution supporting the invasion.

Speaking today, Mr Martlew said: "The real problem was that we didn't have a plan for what happened after we toppled Saddam Hussein.

"The less is that you have to be very cautious, especially with situations like the Middle East because there are unknown consequences."

Tony Cunningham, the MP for Workington from 2001 to 2015, voted in favour of the war.

He said: "I voted the way I did in 2003, reluctantly, because I was persuaded that there was a real and imminent threat to the UK. It was not a decision I took lightly at the time. If we knew then what we know now, would I have voted the same way?

"Quite simply, if we knew then that there wasn't an immediate threat, there wouldn't have been a vote. It's complicated and hindsight is a wonderful thing."

As Liberal Democrat party leader, South Lakeland MP Tim Farron had special access to the report earlier this morning.

Mr Farron said: “Blair was fixated in joining Bush in going to war in Iraq regardless of the evidence, the legality or the serious potential consequences.

“Daesh has arisen from the complete absence of any post conflict planning by the government.

“Charles Kennedy’s judgement has been vindicated in every respect.

"I hope those in the Labour and Conservative parties who were so forceful in their criticism of him and the Liberal Democrats at the time are equally forceful in their acknowledgements today that he was right.

“I hope Sir John Chilcot’s findings can in some way provide comfort to the families of the British servicemen and servicewomen who lost their lives, and to the people of Iraq.

“Far from being Bush’s passenger, Blair was his co-pilot in taking this catastrophic decision which has destabilised Iraq, provided the hotbed for Daesh and tarnished Britain’s reputation around the world.”

The publication has renewed calls for Mr Blair to be held to account for taking the country to war, with protesters camped outside the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre.

Carlisle based left-wing political activist Brent Kennedy was part of the Stop the War Campaign in the weeks before the invasion.

He said: "It's taken 13 years to come to the conclusions that we were talking about before the war. On February 15, 2003, 2 million people demonstrated in London, including 600 from Carlisle, and 100,000 in Glasgow. Worldwide, 30 million were against the war.

"The lesson is that people shouldn't believe politicians - especially on the big issues. Blair should be prosecuted as a war criminal."

Former prime minister Mr Blair his insisted his decision to commit British forces to the invasion of Iraq was taken "in good faith" but he would "take full responsibility for any mistakes".

He added that his decisions were taken "in what I believed to be the best interests of the country" and added that he still believed "it was better to remove Saddam Hussein".