Chilcot suggests delays due to Government

Sir John Chilcot has tried to shift the blame for delays to his six-year inquiry onto the Government, saying it was because some documents “have only been received this year” while others are still being declassified. Sir John refused to set out a timetable for the publication of his report and delivered a blunt legal riposte to to the families of soldiers who have threatened to sue him.

SIR John Chilcot yesterday attempted to shift the blame for delays to his inquiry onto the Government as he delivered a blunt legal riposte to the families of dead soldiers who have threatened to sue him.

After weeks of criticism Sir John said that his six-year inquiry has been delayed because some critical documents “have only been received this year” while others are still being declassified.

He refused to set out a timetable for the publication of his report despite repeated quests from the families, who are now preparing to apply for a judicial review. He also challenged the basis of their legal action in a letter de- scribed by sources close to the bereaved relatives as “the legal equivalent of telling us to p--- off ”.

Reg Keys, whose son L/Cpl Tom Keys was killed in Iraq in 2003, said: “He seems immune to criticism, we are bitterly disappointed… All Sir John needed to do was give those lads the dignity they deserved.”

Meanwhile Clare Short, the former Labour minister, condemned the Chilcot inquiry as a “very, very poor” piece of work that will fail to uncover what went wrong during the Iraq War.

Ms Short, who has been subject to criticism by the inquiry, said that the report is “as big as War and Peace” and will find that “everyone’s to blame [and] no one’s to blame”.

It emerged on Tuesday night that the report will criticise a far broader range of individuals than previously thought.

Former intelligence chiefs, secretaries of state and senior civil servants will all be singled out for censure when the document is finally released. .

Sir John said he was still pursuing new lines of inquiry, adding that he has still yet to receive responses to everyone criticised in his first draft.