MPs have reacted angrily to the news that the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War will not report until after the general election in May.
Inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot faces questions from MPs after he said he saw “no realistic prospect” of publishing the report before 7 May.
In a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron, Chilcot said that the inquiry had made “substantial progress” over the last few months, and individuals criticised in the report are currently being offered a chance to respond.
He explained:
“We intend to finish our work as soon as it is possible to do so whilst being fair to all those involved”
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg condemned the delay and said that the public will assume that the delay would be due to those criticised in the report attempting to “sex it down”.
Whilst the delay to publish a report that has already taken six years has angered MPs, Chilcot did say that the “Inquiry has reached agreement with Sir Jeremy on the publication of 29 of Mr Blair’s Notes to President Bush, subject to a very small number of essential redactions”.
In his response, Cameron said he would have liked the report to have been published sooner, but blamed the previous government for not establishing the Inquiry earlier.