Ministers ducked for political cover yesterday after activists blamed Britain’s own arms sales for fuelling Iraq’s descent into chaos.

In Britain Tory Foreign Secretary William Hague told MPs he had spoken privately with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif about the crisis which has seen extremist Sunni Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) fighters chalk up major gains.

But Mr Hague, who suffered a humiliating defeat last year when MPs voted against attacking Syria, refused to blame the crisis on US-British intervention from 2003.