Iraq Inquiry: Give Chilcot more time, MP argues

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34169347

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A leading Conservative critic of the Iraq War has urged the inquiry into the conflict to be given more time.

John Baron, who quit his frontbench over its support for the invasion, said the Chilcot report should be published "when ready and not in haste".

Lawyers of families of UK personnel who died in Iraq say they are considering legal action over the delays.

But Mr Baron said families deserved the most accurate, authoritative account of why the UK went to war in 2003.

Inquiry chair Sir John Chilcot has said he cannot yet set a deadline for the completion of the report, on which he began work in 2009.

MPs and peers have expressed frustration with the length of time it is taking, with some calling for the report - which is looking into the UK's involvement in military action and its aftermath - to be published as it is or the inquiry to be given a fixed deadline.

'Torn to shreds'

Mr Baron said he shared his colleagues' concerns but, citing the 10 years it took for the official inquiry into the 1972 Bloody Sunday shootings to conclude its work, he said the current timeframe was far from unprecedented.

Writing on the ConservativeHome website, Mr Baron said it would be wrong to blame Sir John for "delays outside his control" and the inquiry was right to follow up new leads which continued to be thrown up by the declassification of new documents.

He also defended the protracted process of Maxwellisation - where those subject to criticism in the draft report are being given the right to reply - saying that it was right for key players in the decision to go to war to be able to correct any factual errors where they found them.

"It would be the very worst outcome if, after publication, the report were torn to shreds by legal actions and counter-claim," he wrote.

"Such a result would inevitably cast doubt over all the report's conclusions."

'Reputations on line'

The inquiry, he believed, was determined to answer the central question of why the UK went to war and whether Parliament was misled in doing so.

"Sir John and his panel know that history is watching them, and that their reputations are on the line when historians of the future come to write their accounts."

He added: "I feel it is especially important to learn the lessons of our involvement. Our subsequent interventions in Afghanistan post-2006, in Libya, and the government's wish to intervene in Syria, suggests this has not yet happened. For these reasons,

"I hope the report will be published soon - but only when it is ready, and not in haste. We owe this to ourselves and particularly to the families affected."

Prime Minister David Cameron has said he is fast losing patience with the inquiry but has said it is independent and he cannot interfere with its processes.