DISMAY and disbelief have met fresh reports that the £10m Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War, which took its final evidence in 2011, might not now report until next year - seven years after it began.
In January, Sir John Chilcot, the inquiry chairman, came under intense criticism when he announced that the findings would not be published before the General Election.
However, a source close to the inquiry has now been quoted as saying: "Nobody thinks it will come out this year."
The source explained: "Once they had failed to meet the pre-election deadline, they gave up trying to speed things up."
The process of so-called Maxwellisation - giving those criticised in the report time to respond - is thought to be responsible for the on-going delay. One source described this process as a "nightmare".
It was suggested some of those criticised in the report had been given drafts running to "hundreds of pages" while others had "engaged in lively correspondence with the inquiry team" to defend themselves.
When he announced the delay in January, Sir John pointed out: "It is our duty to deliver a report, which gives the Government, Parliament, the public, and particularly all those who have been deeply affected by events in Iraq, the answers they deserve."
But suggestions that the report would now not be published until seven years after it began were met with consternation.
Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, said: "I'm just dismayed beyond belief that we are having to wait so long - and now, it is being reported, even longer than I had feared - to finally find out the truth of what happened in the run-up to that fateful - and what I have always considered, personally, to be illegal - invasion of Iraq."
Noting how it was the Liberal Democrats which opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Tim Farron, the party's foreign affairs spokesman, said talk of a further delay was "deeply concerning".
He said: "Hundreds of thousands of families have had their lives torn apart by the Iraq war and deserve answers. It is simply not good enough for this process to be continually delayed and the report must be published."
Angus Robertson, the SNP's foreign affairs spokesman, said a further delay was "completely unacceptable" and a "democratic outrage".
He added: "People deserve full disclosure about how the Labour Government at Westminster operated in the lead-up to this disastrous war.
"There is clear cross-party support both in the Scottish Parliament and at Westminster for early publication of this vital report. Subjecting it to yet more delay is quite frankly an affront to democracy and the process of parliamentary scrutiny."
Suzanne Evans, Ukip's deputy chairwoman, claimed the "endless delays" were "completely unjustifiable".
Neither the UK Government nor the inquiry would comment on the latest reports of another delay.
Some 179 British armed forces personnel were killed in the Iraq war, including 136 in action. More than 4400 US personnel were killed and almost 32,000 wounded. Tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians also died as a result of sectarian killings and a violent insurgency.
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