Iraq War Inquiry announcement

The Government has now announced the establishment of an independent Privy Councillor Committee of Inquiry into the decision to go to war in 2003 and its bloody and protracted aftermath.

It is to consider the period from summer 2001 before military operations began right until the end of British involvement in July this year. The Prime Minister stated: “the Inquiry is essential so that by learning lessons we will strengthen the health of our democracy, our diplomacy and our military.” The Prime Minister stressed that the Inquiry will be “fully independent of Government” and said that its scope is unprecedented, covering an 8-year period from the run up to the conflict and the full period of conflict and reconstruction.

It was promised that the Committee of Inquiry will have access to “the fullest range of information, including secret information, in other words their investigation can range across all documents, all paper and all material, so the Inquiry can ask for any British document to come before it and any British citizen to appear.” No British document and no British witness will be beyond the scope of the Inquiry.

Initially it was announced that the Inquiry would be held in private, but pressure mounts for it to be held in public. On 18th June 2009 it was announced that some sessions of the Inquiry could be public.