The Labour Party has clashed with Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende in the wake of the publication of the Davids Committee report, which criticised the prime minister's role in the run-up to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.

The report said the cabinet failed to fully inform the lower house of parliament about its support for the invasion and the military action "had no sound mandate under international law" but Mr Balkenende has dismissed the report's conclusions.
 

The Labour Party, a member of Mr Balkenende's tri-party coalition, says the Davids report is "disturbing" and that Mr Balkenende's response is not on behalf of the Labour Party.
 

Mariëtta Hamer, leader of Labour's parliamentary party, says she was "unpleasantly surprised" by Mr Balkenende's response to the report. Labour has called on Mr Balkenende to emphasise the difference between the 2003 cabinet - the party was in opposition at the time - and the current one. The party has called for another response to the criticisms in the Davids report this week.

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