Tony Blair urged Syria’s then president Assad to act in 2004 against the Islamist group which has now come to power in Damascus.

Government documents show the perfidy of British policy in the region, with Britain now hailing the Islamists of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) as liberators while damning Assad as a tyrant.

In 2004 British secret service officials beseeched Assad to help stop fighters entering Iraq via Syria.