There will be “uproar” if the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War is not released within a fortnight, a senior Tory MP has said.
David Davis, a former foreign minister and leadership candidate, said not releasing the report before the EU referendum would be “inexplicable”.
Work began on the Iraq Inquiry, informally known as the Chilcot Inquiry after its chair Sir John Chilcot, six years ago. It has however been beset by delays and slow progress.
The report is currently being vetted by the security services.
Mr Davis is leading a House of Commons debate about delays to the inquiry on Thursday.
“A lot of the reason it’s delayed already is haggling over what they can and can’t use. If they weren’t security clearing at that time, I don’t quite know what they think they were doing,” he said.
“There’s really no argument for it [vetting] taking any more than two weeks. I think we’ll win the battle. If not, frankly, there will be an uproar.
“A lot of the reason it’s delayed already is haggling over what they can and can’t use. If they weren’t security clearing at that time, I don’t quite know what they think they were doing.
“There’s really no argument for it taking any more than two weeks. I think we’ll win the battle. If not, frankly, there will be an uproar.”
Labour MP Paul Flynn, who opposed the Iraq War, also criticised the delay.
“We all want to get things settled and to be informed and to know the truth about these events which took place, in our lifetimes,” he said.
“The delay is sinful, damaging and wicked. The debate will be a chance to get some answers from the government.”
In August last year Sir John defended the lengthy “Maxwellisation” process of the report in which individuals facing criticism are given the opportunity to respond.
In October David Cameron wrote to Sir John to ask him to speed up the publication of the report. Sir John said the report sholud be out in summer 2016.
Additional reporting by PA
