Cameron stalls Iraq report
DAVID CAMERON is to postpone publication of the Iraq war inquiry report until after the European Union referendum, leading to accusations that he is deliberately delaying controversial announcements.
Senior government sources confirmed that it is likely to be published after the June 23 vote, even though it will be handed to ministers next month. Mr Cameron had previously suggested he wanted to publish the report, which is expected heavily to criticise senior political figures, within two weeks of receiving it.
The prospect of a further delay was denounced last night by families who lost loved ones in the conflict.
The six-year-long Chilcot inquiry report has been repeatedly delayed after those criticised within it were given the right of reply, a process known as Maxwellisation. Reg Keys, who lost his 20-year-old son L/Cpl Thomas Keys in the war, said the delay was adding to the families’ pain.
Mr Keys said: “It has gone on far, far too long and it is just dragging out the
agony of the families who want to draw a line under it. I can see no reason why a referendum has any bearing upon the publication of the Chilcot inquiry.
“We have had the Maxwellisation process as an excuse, we have had clearance for national security as an excuse, now we have the referendum as an excuse. It is excuse after excuse.”
Sir John Chilcot, the inquiry’s chairman, committed last October to hand in the report in the week commencing April 18. He said at the time that he hoped the report would be published “in June or July 2016”.
At the time, the Prime Minister replied to Sir John that he hoped the report could be security vetted within two weeks, which would have led to its publication in May. He told Sir John in a letter: “In relation to national security checking, the Government will aim to complete the process as quickly as possible. As you know, national security checking for the Savile Inquiry took two weeks to complete.
“It would certainly be our plan and expectation to take no longer than this, and we will look to complete the proc- ess more quickly.” Mr Cameron also said he would be “very happy to provide more resource if it would allow the report to be published more quickly”.
Roger Bacon, whose son, Major Matthew Bacon, was killed in Basra in 2005, added that if the delay was a “political decision” then it was wrong.
Matthew Jury, a solicitor representing the families of servicemen and women who died in Iraq, added: “The inquiry is meant to be independent. Once the report is delivered, whatever the reason, the Government should have no right to delay its publication.”
David Davis, the former shadow home secretary, said he was seeking a motion in the House of Commons on April 14 demanding the Government publishes the Chilcot report as soon as possible, and certainly within the Prime Minister’s promised two weeks.
A No10 source said Sir John had suggested “a June or July timetable” in his exchange of letters with Mr Cameron in October. The source said: “Due diligence and checks and balances have to be done as Chilcot himself has suggested. We can’t specify a date until we have seen the report.”