THE report from the £10 million Chilcot inquiry into the 2003 invasion of Iraq has been delayed so much that it has the potential to become an “international embarrassment with no credibility,” the SNP’s Angus Brendan MacNeil said today.
The Western Isles MP’s remarks came ahead of a Commons debate this afternoon, which he will lead, and which will highlight what many MPs believe is the intolerable delay in publishing the UK Government-commissioned report.
It is due to be made public this June or July, seven years after the inquiry began and 13 years after the US-led invasion of Iraq aimed at toppling the corrupt regime of Saddam Hussein. Next week, the report is due to be vetted by the security services.
Commenting before the debate, Mr MacNeil, his party’s deputy foreign affairs spokesman, said: “The Iraq war was a foreign policy catastrophe that had a devastating impact on many families across the UK, Iraq and internationally. The delay in publication of the Chilcot report is outrageous.”
He went on: "There always seems to be a reason to push it back - Christmas, an election, a referendum - with credibility of the final report increasingly being diminished.
“Instead of eventually clearing up why we invaded Iraq illegally, it now has the potential to become an international embarrassment; it is almost as if the Westminster Establishment is trying to brush it under carpet and that is intolerable.”
Mr MacNeil said the Iraq inquiry was demanded because people wanted answers and yet by the time the report was published it would have been 13 years since the “immoral war” was waged, seven since the inquiry was launched, and £10 million would have been spent on finding these answers.
He added: “Given the tragic human cost of this war and the bereaved families, who are still waiting for answers, we simply cannot allow the truth on Iraq to be swept under the carpet. People and families must also have confidence that, having waited so long for answers, a full picture is given."
Meantime, David Davis, the former Conservative foreign minister, warned that there would be uproar if the Government failed to publish the report as planned in the next few weeks.
Responding to reports it could be pushed back until after the June 23 poll, Mr Davis, a former Conservative leadership contender, said: "That's the suspicion. I cannot conceive why it should be delayed for that reason; it is inexplicable.”
He stressed that the report had no real relevance to Europe at all. “Maybe it's the Government not wanting anything to rock the boat whilst this referendum is going on," he surmised.
The Yorkshire MP insisted there was no argument for it taking any more than two weeks to be published, adding: "We'll win the battle; if not, frankly, there will be an uproar."
On Wednesday, John Bercow, the Speaker, criticised the lengthy wait for the Iraq inquiry.
Responding to a point of order, he told MPs: "When this issue has been aired in the House the sense of dissatisfaction across the chamber has been audible, frankly not just to the chair but to millions of people throughout the country. It has become exceptionally and excessively protracted."
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