BBC News presenter muddles up Tony Blair and George Bush's names

'Tony Bush and George Blair'

It comes as the Chilcot report delivered a damning verdict on Blair (BBC/Jeff Overs)

A BBC news presenter has made an awkward mistake while reporting on the Chilcot report live on air, accidentally muddling up the names of Tony Blair and George Bush.

Ben Brown, who has worked at the BBC for nearly three decades, was looping to a commentator in Baghdad when he accidentally swapped the surnames of the former British Prime Minister and the former US President.

He said: ”The repercussions of what happened way back when Tony Bush and George Blair were considering whether to go to war are still being felt in Iraq today”.

Viewers noticed his error and labelled it a “Freudian slip”.

“BBC reporter just called them 'Tony Bush and George Blair'. #specialrelationship #symbiote,” wrote one Twitter user.

“Think I just overheard a BBC commentator say “Tony Bush and George Blair”...sums it up really,” added another.

“Tony Bush and George Blair, well that's a Freudian slip if ever I've seen one,” chipped in one more.

It comes as the Chilcot report delivered a damning verdict on Blair and concluded he had convinced himself there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, though the secret intelligence reports he had been shown “did not justify” his certainty.

Blair responded to the Chilcot report and said he took full responsibility for his decision to go to war: “For all of this I express more sorrow, regret and apology than you can ever know or believe". However he said he ultimately did not regret his actions and mounted a lengthy defence of the Iraq war strategy.

A spokesperson from the BBC declined to comment on the on-air blunder.