GORDON Brown's appearance before the Iraq Inquiry will be brought forward to before the general election, it was reported tonight.

Reports said senior sources at Number 10 expected an announcement to be made tomorrow.

The head of the inquiry, Sir John Chilcot, had ruled that the Prime Minister's evidence should be delayed to keep party politics out of the probe.

But there has been mounting political pressure for Mr Brown to appear before the panel in advance of the poll, which must be held by June 3.

The PM has publicly insisted he has nothing to hide and has told Sir John he was willing to appear at any time the inquiry should wish.

Demands for his evidence to be brought forward were heightened this week after he was accused of starving the Armed Forces of essential funds.

Former defence secretary Geoff Hoon told the inquiry that the Treasury, under Mr Brown as Chancellor, failed to fund the forces properly in the years before the conflict and then slashed their budget following the invasion.

And in his evidence last week, Tony Blair's former spin chief Alastair Campbell told the inquiry that Mr Brown was part of the inner circle of ministers and advisers the then premier consulted in private on Iraq.

Mr Blair is due to give evidence next week.

Responding to a rising tide of calls for him to give evidence before the election, Mr Brown yesterday told MPs that he had written to the Iraq Inquiry stressing his willingness but saying he would listen to Sir John's advice on the matter.

"I have written to Sir John Chilcot and I have said to him that I am happy to give evidence at any time.

"That is a matter for the committee to decide, but I will take whatever advice he gives me about when he wishes me to appear," he said.

"I am happy to give evidence about all the issues that he puts forward, and I am happy to satisfy the public of this country about our Government's commitment to the security of this country."

Last week Mr Brown insisted he had nothing to hide when Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said the public were entitled to know his role in the Government's most disastrous decision before casting their votes on polling day.

Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said Mr Brown had "bowed to the inevitable".

"It would have been incomprehensible to the general public if he had not been called to give evidence before the election along with other members of the Cabinet at the time of the decision to take military action against Iraq like Geoff Hoon and Jack Straw."

Angus Robertson, the SNP leader at Westminster who raised the issue at question time yesterday, said: "The net is closing in on Gordon Brown.

"Despite all his efforts to force the Iraq inquiry behind closed doors, the case for the man who bankrolled the illegal war in Iraq to give full evidence in public is overwhelming - and now even he has acknowledged that.

"Tony Blair led us into the worst foreign policy disaster in modern times and, as senior figures involved in the run-up to the conflict have already told the Chilcot Inquiry, Gordon Brown was right beside him all the way.

"The truth of illegal invasion must be known before voters goes to the polls at the general election. The people deserve the whole truth about a war fought in their name but the full facts cannot be known until Gordon Brown is held to account for his actions.

"There must be no delay in setting a date for this hearing."