The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown makes a U-turn on his stance on an inquiry into the Iraq war, agreeing to make the evidence public.

"If those considerations concerning national security are met, then of course the Prime Minister would have no difficulty in giving evidence in public," the Prime Minister's spokesman said on Wednesday.

After mounting pressure from senior military and political officials, Brown left the decision up to inquiry head Sir John Chilcot to make the hearing public or private.

He had initially proposed the inquiry be held behind closed doors for national security reasons.

The Tories are criticizing the premier over his U-turn on the inquiry. Former premier Tony Blair and his director of communications Alastair Campbell are also urged to give evidence in public.

Tory leader David Cameron told reporters "They need to come to the House of Commons and say it is predominantly public, they need a wider membership, they need military experience."

"We want to see an inquiry committee with more military members, with more political experience - much more heavyweight and diverse. That's why we will press this in the House of Commons to get a proper U-turn out of the Government," Cameron added, following his meeting with the inquiry chief Sir John Chilcot.

Brown will face members of the parliament during the Opposition Day debate as part of the latest inquiry launched into the Iraq war.

The inquiry is an attempts to fill in the gaps caused in the Labour Party after ex-PM Tony Blair took the decision to join the US-lead invasion of Iraq more than six years ago.

Sir Chilcot has been meeting with senior officials in the military and politics to plan the best form the investigation can be held.

The families of the 179 military personnel killed during the war are also welcome to make suggestions on how the inquiry should proceed.

FA/MMN