UK Iraq inquiry ‘to report after EU referendum’

LONDON

British Prime Minister David Cameron is reportedly planning to further delay a long-awaited British inquiry into the Iraq war, which was first announced seven years ago.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday that Cameron wants to push back the results of Sir John Chilcot’s independent inquiry until after June’s EU membership referendum.

The public inquiry was originally commissioned by then-Prime Minster Gordon Brown to examine Britain’s involvement in Iraq between 2001 and 2009.

It took evidence in public from a wide range of key figures, including Brown and Tony Blair, who as prime minister ordered British troops into Iraq in 2003, but has since been hampered by lengthy fact-checking and a process known as Maxwellization, where individuals are given the opportunity to respond to criticism in the report.

That process was due to be completed in the middle of April.

But the Telegraph quoted unnamed government sources as confirming the report would not be published until after the EU referendum on June 23.

Cameron had previously said he would want to release Chilcot’s report no later than two weeks after the Maxwellization was complete.