Chilcot Inquiry Delay 'A Cover Up'

The mother of a soldier who died in the Iraq war has said the delay in publishing the inquiry into the invasion is the biggest cover up of our time''.

The Chilcot inquiry into the 2003 Iraq invasion opened five years ago but is yet to be published.

Rose Gentle, from Glasgow, who lost her 19-year-old son Gordon in June 2004, told the Daily Mirror: If they have nothing to hide, why won't they publish the report? ... It's the biggest cover up of our time.''

Reginald Keys, whose 20-year-old son Lance Corporal Thomas Richard Keys died in Basra, told the paper the report's publication was being delayed to cover up the truth''.

In October, Conservative MP Keith Simpson said the delay merely exaggerates suspicions'' of an establishment stitch up.

Minister for civil society Rob Wilson said during a Commons debate on the subject this year that the timing of the report's publication was a matter for the inquiry'' which was fully independent of Government.

The official website for the inquiry states: The inquiry intends to submit its report to the Prime Minister as soon as possible.''

The probe is looking at the period between 2001 and 2009, and examining why certain decisions and actions were taken around the invasion of Iraq.

Costs incurred since the inquiry began stood at more than £9 million up to March this year.