Timeline: Iraq inquiry
Sir John Chilcot’s Iraq inquiry begins taking evidence from today. It’s been a long time coming.
The attempt to establish what lessons can be learned from Britain’s involvement in the ousting of Saddam Hussein will, inevitably, be hugely political.
Perhaps that’s why it’s taken such a long time for the government to allow it to happen. politics.co.uk looks back at some of the tortuous steps on the long road to today.
October 2006 – Nationalists Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National party were behind one of the first major attempts to secure an inquiry. MPs narrowly voted with the government to reject the proposal. But dissatisfaction within Labour at foreign secretary Margaret Beckett’s insistence that it was “not the time” for an inquiry was underlined by the government’s majority being reduced to just 25.
June 2007 – Another attempt to force an inquiry, this time coming from the Conservative benches, was defeated by a majority of 35 votes. Ms Beckett argued it would be wrong to “divert our focus” from Iraq, as instability in the Middle Eastern state reached its peak. An amendment saying the UK should wait until its troops left the country was backed instead.
October 2008 – A smaller-scale inquiry began on the 15th. Baha Mousa, a hotel receptionist who died in the custody of British soldiers, was found dead with tens of injuries on his body. The inquiry is ongoing.
December 2008 – As the final withdrawal date of British troops neared Gordon Brown found himself facing mounting pressure to confirm an inquiry would take place. Brown repeated his line – I’ve always said this is a matter we would consider once our troops come home” – as frustration from all sides of the Commons grew.
Outside the Commons, former defence chief of staff General Sir Mike Jackson hit out at the post-invasion strategy in Iraq. He said mistakes could have doubled the amount of time British troops had to remain in the country.
Analysis: An irrelevant Iraq inquiry
March 2009 – Foreign secretary David Miliband conceded an inquiry would take place as soon as practical after July 31st, when the last contingent of British troops were due to leave the country. “We will learn the necessary lessons and what went wrong in the functioning of government itself,” William Hague said.
June 15th 2009 – On June 16th Gordon Brown finally told the Commons he was prepared to allow an Iraq inquiry to take place. But this was not the inquiry many had been hoping for. It would be conducted in secret, published only after the election and would “try to avoid apportioning blame”. Unsurprisingly, many suspected the prime minister was making an unsubtle attempt at damage limitation.
Comment: A shabby end to a shabby affair
June 18th 2009 – Robin Butler, who led a review of intelligence failings in the run-up to the 2003 invasion, added his voice to opposition anger when he accused Brown of “political intentions“.
Downing Street hinted at a U-turn, insisting the privacy of the inquiry had never been an “issue of great theology” for the PM.
June 22nd 2009 – Finally, and belatedly, the government conceded it would not oppose an Iraq war inquiry held largely in public. Sir John Chilcot rejected the PM’s calls for a private investigation and said as many evidence sessions as possible would be held in public.
November 24th 2009 – The first day of public evidence sessions takes place.
January/February 2010 – Former prime minister Tony Blair will give his evidence to the inquiry in the new year.
