Brown to Sir John
Gordon Brown has replied to Sir John:
(Click for enlargement)
(Sir John's previous letter to Gordon Brown does not appear to be in the public domain, although it is referred to throughout the media, as below. If it becomes available and I can find it, it will be posted here.)
Large parts of Iraq inquiry to be heard in public
Large sections of the Iraq war inquiry war will be held in public, its chairman said yesterday, in a decision that will cause embarrassment for Gordon Brown.
By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor
Published: 7:00AM BST 23 Jun 2009
Sir John Chilcot told the prime minister it was "essential to hold as much of the proceedings of the inquiry as possible in public".
The move is further humiliation for Mr Brown, who initially said the hearing would be in secret. He was then forced to ask Sir John to consider holding some evidence in public following criticism from MPs, peers and military leaders.
The Conservatives said the prime minister had executed a "U-turn in slow motion" and accused him of a "climb-down of massive proportions".
Sir also appeared to rule out an interim report, which could have been published before the next general election, further fuelling suggestions that the timing of the inquiry was designed to report back in the next parliament.
In a letter to Mr Brown, Sir John said he would consult with opposition party leaders and senior MPs before deciding the exact format of the inquiry.
But he told the Prime Minister: "More broadly, I believe it will be essential to hold as much of the proceedings of the inquiry as possible in public, consistent with the need to protect national security and to ensure and enable complete candour in the oral and written evidence from witnesses."
It still remains unclear whether Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister, and other sensitive witnesses such as secret service officers, will be made to give evidence in open, or even under oath.
Sir John did not specify what he meant by "as much as possible" being held in public, his choice of language leaving it open for such evidence to be heard in private.
Mr Blair, who took Britain into the conflict, had lobbied for the inquiry to be held behind closed doors.
He apparently said that the hearings would become a "show trial" if they were held in public.
In response to Sir John's letter, Mr Brown wrote: "I believe your proposals will manage to meet both the need not to compromise national security but also enable the independent inquiry also to hold public sessions helping to build public confidence."
William Hague, shadow Foreign Secretary, said: "The Prime Minister has been executing a u-turn in slow motion ever since announcing the Inquiry. Characteristically he could not bring himself to confirm this in Parliament but has passed the buck to Sir John Chilcot.
"This is a climb-down of massive proportions from the Prime Minister, whose own proposals for the Iraq Inquiry were so ill-thought through and hastily executed that they have attracted nothing but condemnation from all quarters."
Sir John also did not use the word "oath" in his letter, instead referring to how best a "formal undertaking can be given by witnesses that their contributions will be complete, truthful and accurate".
However, he did agree for the need to give the families of those who died or were "seriously affected" by the conflict "an early opportunity to express their views about the nature and procedures of the inquiry, and to express them either in public or in private as they prefer".
"That will be important in helping us to decide how to go about the task, and explain what we are going to do," he wrote.
Sir John Major,the former Prime Minister, senior military figures including ex-head of the Army Sir Mike Jackson and the head of the last official inquiry on the war, Lord Butler of Brockwell, were among critics who forced Mr Brown into a partial climbdown over openness.
Jack Straw, who was foreign secretary in 2003, has said he has "no problem" with giving evidence in public.
On Wednesday the prime minister is due to face a Commons vote on a Conservative motion that evidence given to the Iraq inquiry should be heard in public "whenever possible".
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/
5604841/Large-parts-of-Iraq-inquiry-to-be-heard-in-public.html
(Click for enlargement)
(Sir John's previous letter to Gordon Brown does not appear to be in the public domain, although it is referred to throughout the media, as below. If it becomes available and I can find it, it will be posted here.)
Large parts of Iraq inquiry to be heard in public
Large sections of the Iraq war inquiry war will be held in public, its chairman said yesterday, in a decision that will cause embarrassment for Gordon Brown.
By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor
Published: 7:00AM BST 23 Jun 2009
Sir John Chilcot told the prime minister it was "essential to hold as much of the proceedings of the inquiry as possible in public".
The move is further humiliation for Mr Brown, who initially said the hearing would be in secret. He was then forced to ask Sir John to consider holding some evidence in public following criticism from MPs, peers and military leaders.
The Conservatives said the prime minister had executed a "U-turn in slow motion" and accused him of a "climb-down of massive proportions".
Sir also appeared to rule out an interim report, which could have been published before the next general election, further fuelling suggestions that the timing of the inquiry was designed to report back in the next parliament.
In a letter to Mr Brown, Sir John said he would consult with opposition party leaders and senior MPs before deciding the exact format of the inquiry.
But he told the Prime Minister: "More broadly, I believe it will be essential to hold as much of the proceedings of the inquiry as possible in public, consistent with the need to protect national security and to ensure and enable complete candour in the oral and written evidence from witnesses."
It still remains unclear whether Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister, and other sensitive witnesses such as secret service officers, will be made to give evidence in open, or even under oath.
Sir John did not specify what he meant by "as much as possible" being held in public, his choice of language leaving it open for such evidence to be heard in private.
Mr Blair, who took Britain into the conflict, had lobbied for the inquiry to be held behind closed doors.
He apparently said that the hearings would become a "show trial" if they were held in public.
In response to Sir John's letter, Mr Brown wrote: "I believe your proposals will manage to meet both the need not to compromise national security but also enable the independent inquiry also to hold public sessions helping to build public confidence."
William Hague, shadow Foreign Secretary, said: "The Prime Minister has been executing a u-turn in slow motion ever since announcing the Inquiry. Characteristically he could not bring himself to confirm this in Parliament but has passed the buck to Sir John Chilcot.
"This is a climb-down of massive proportions from the Prime Minister, whose own proposals for the Iraq Inquiry were so ill-thought through and hastily executed that they have attracted nothing but condemnation from all quarters."
Sir John also did not use the word "oath" in his letter, instead referring to how best a "formal undertaking can be given by witnesses that their contributions will be complete, truthful and accurate".
However, he did agree for the need to give the families of those who died or were "seriously affected" by the conflict "an early opportunity to express their views about the nature and procedures of the inquiry, and to express them either in public or in private as they prefer".
"That will be important in helping us to decide how to go about the task, and explain what we are going to do," he wrote.
Sir John Major,the former Prime Minister, senior military figures including ex-head of the Army Sir Mike Jackson and the head of the last official inquiry on the war, Lord Butler of Brockwell, were among critics who forced Mr Brown into a partial climbdown over openness.
Jack Straw, who was foreign secretary in 2003, has said he has "no problem" with giving evidence in public.
On Wednesday the prime minister is due to face a Commons vote on a Conservative motion that evidence given to the Iraq inquiry should be heard in public "whenever possible".
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/
5604841/Large-parts-of-Iraq-inquiry-to-be-heard-in-public.html
posted by Andrew Simon at 10:55 PM
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