Gary Gibbon
Waiting, in a tiny room, for the Iraq inquiry
Unlike the Hutton inquiry when documents poured out of government every day the opening taster at the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war is discouraging.
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Iraq inquiry: how it will operate
Some quick background on how the inquiry’s going to operate. The five-strong committee led by Sir John Chilcot was appointed by the Prime Minister this summer after the announcement that British military operations in Iraq had effectively ended finished. Despite being selected by the government, Sir John has vowed that the committee will be fair,…
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Iraq inquiry: as it starts, what can we expect?
For a war that seared onto our TV screens via the US military doctrine of “shock and awe” the UK’s official inquiry into the Iraq conflict just started with a distinctly English sang froid. First things first – another inquiry? You could be forgiven a tinge of déjà vu, but the two best-known investigations that…
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Gary Gibbon
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The Iraq inquiry: blogging the investigation into the conflict
Channel 4 News will be blogging the Iraq Inquiry, the unprecedented investigation into how the UK became involved in the Iraq conflict, how the war was fought and what befell the people of Iraq afterwards.
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Jon Snow
Has Iraq sunk Blair's presidency hopes?
The presidency of Europe is slipping rapidly from Tony Blair’s hands. My sources in Brussels and elsewhere report a rapid sea change in the former prime minister’s fortunes as ratification of the Lisbon treaty creeps closer (the Czech president could reluctantly sign it within a week). Those sources tell me that Blair’s candidacy has been…
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Gary Gibbon
Chilcot insists Iraq Inquiry won’t shy from pointing blame
At the Iraq Inquiry launch. Sir John Chilcot says don’t expect a report before the end of 2010 at the earliest. Witnesses will have to give undertakings that their evidence is truthful, fair and accurate. Senior figures in the US will be spoken to privately as they were in the Butler inquiry. That report concluded…
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Gary Gibbon
Iraq Inquiry could hear mountains of evidence
The Iraq Inquiry looks like being unveiled soon – maybe next week. Folk close to it are talking about mountains of evidence. Word is that the inquiry may have decided against those saying “get a lawyer.” The Hutton Inquiry used a barrister, James Dingemans QC, to question witnesses in the first round of evidence sessions.…
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Gary Gibbon
Brown must fear a badly timed Chilcot report
Gordon Brown has a habit of upsetting people he’s asked to conduct inquiries. Adair Turner didn’t look like a man who’d like to take up another commission from Gordon Brown after his pensions inquiry. More recently, Sir Christopher Kelly’s team looking at MPs’ expenses was repeatedly publicly harried by No.10 and didn’t appreciate it.