A senior international lawyer has urged the British government to "come clean" and publish the legal advice it received justifying war in Iraq, amid accusations it was politically manipulated.

Tony Blair's trust ratings plunged over his decision to go to war and his record is under the spotlight again in the run-up to an expected May election.

Philippe Sands, a law professor who works in the same chambers as Blair's barrister wife Cherie, said of the pre-war advice from Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith: "You can't help but reach the conclusion that it may have been tainted politically in some way."