DAVID Cameron should have insisted on a date for publication of the Chilcot Inquiry report into the Iraq war “over a year ago”, the SNP have argued, after it was revealed the Prime Minister is now to demand one from Sir John.
Six years on from the start of the investigation into the causes of the 2003 invasion, which has cost the taxpayer £10 million, the continuing delay in publishing the Chilcot report has been put down to the process of so-called Maxwellisation, where people criticised in it have the right to reply. After yet more delays, the report is now not expected before the end of the year.
However, Mr Cameron’s patience appears to be wearing very thin as he has made clear he now wants a “timetable...pretty soon”, noting how the delay was heartbreaking for the families of soldiers, who had died in the conflict.
“For their sake, as well as for the sake of the public, we’ve got to get on with this. More important than anything is thinking of the parents who lost loved ones in Iraq," said the PM.
But Alex Salmond for the SNP noted how previously Mr Cameron had made clear he was in no position to order the publication of the Chilcot report.
"The Iraq war was a foreign policy catastrophe - the greatest and most disastrous for at least half a century,” declared the former First Minister, pointing out how the appalling ramifications were still being felt and would be for years into the future.
"The Chilcot Inquiry was demanded because people wanted answers; six years and £10 million later, we still have nothing. Hundreds of thousands of people were affected by the illegal war and they are due an answer. It was overdue six years ago and the fact that there is still no answer is completely unacceptable,” said Mr Salmond.
The MP for Gordon claimed the question for the Prime Minister now was that if he were now able to “demand” the publication date, why had he not done it sooner.
"The report has been plagued by continuous delays yet David Cameron has claimed he has been helpless during this entire process but only now says he will act. Answers are long, long overdue,” declared the ex-party leader.
Mr Salmond added: "It should be remembered that Cameron himself voted for the war in 2003. He has a moral obligation to get to the bottom of the reasons for this disastrous conflict a full twelve years later."
The SNP’s call on Chilcot follows the suggestion from Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leadership candidate, that Tony Blair should stand trial on charges of war crimes if the evidence suggested he had broken international law over the war in Iraq.
In 2004, a cross-party group of MPs sought to impeach the former PM over the invasion. These included Mr Salmond, George Galloway, the former Respect MP, and Boris Johnson, the Conservative MP and Mayor of London, as well as novelist Frederick Forsyth, musician Brian Eno and the late author Iain Banks.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel