MPs should pass a motion demanding publication of the Chilcot report on the Iraq war before the end of the year, the Labour leadership candidate Yvette Cooper has said.
The shadow home secretary said she would be ready as Labour leader to work with David Cameron to bring a motion to the House of Commons calling for the prompt publication of the report.
This would force Sir John Chilcot to bring an end to the Maxwellisation process, which gives those criticised in a report the opportunity to respond. The inquiry has now dragged on for six years, having opened in 2009 and finished taking evidence in 2011.
Amid reports that the delay could continue into 2016, families of soldiers killed in Iraq have threatened legal action if the report is not published by the end of the year.
On Saturday Cameron told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It is immensely frustrating. People listening to this will think ‘why on earth can’t the prime minister order this thing to be published?’ I can’t. It’s an independent inquiry. It has to be that way.
“I feel it’s not just because the politicians want to see this, but actually you meet mothers and fathers of those who died in Iraq who want to know the answers, and want to know before they reach the end of their lives. So they are immensely frustrated and I share their frustration.”
Cooper will offer Cameron a way out of the impasse by offering to work with him to issue an ultimatum. “We have waited too long for the Chilcot report, and I share the frustration of British military families. It is unacceptable and inexplicable,” she said on Sunday.
“As Labour leader I would suggest to David Cameron that we jointly bring a motion to the House of Commons calling for the prompt publication of the report, ending the so-called Maxwellisation process, and setting a cutoff date that parliament would be invited to vote upon.”
Speaking of her own decision to vote in favour of the Iraq war, in contrast to the Labour leadership frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn, Cooper said the party was “wrong over Iraq – both on the initial decision, because there were no weapons of mass destruction, and on the strategy afterwards”.
“It distracted from the crucially important conflict in Afghanistan that had depleted al-Qaida there,” she said. “And the disorder, instability and lack of management of the aftermath extended the violence and conflict. That makes it immensely important that the full Chilcot inquiry is now published so we can face up to what went wrong.”
Tony Blair, the former prime minister, has repeatedly denied he has anything to do with the delays in publishing the report.
