An independent inquiry is to be set up into the causes of the ill health affecting veterans of the first Gulf War.

The former Lord Justice of Appeal, Lord Lloyd of Berwick, will head the investigation.

He was nominated by Lord Morris of Manchester, honorary parliamentary adviser to the Royal British Legion and a vocal campaigner on the issue.

The National Gulf Veterans and Families Association has already disowned the investigation, demanding a "fully open" inquiry instead.

The government continues to resist a public inquiry.