MPs in bid to force release of Iraq report: Cross-party move to end 'intolerable' delay amid suspici

[jakeXT]

Source: Mail On Sunday

MPs in bid to force release of Iraq report: Cross-party move to end 'intolerable' delay amid suspicions it is part of plot by Blair's allies

A powerful cross-party move to end the ‘intolerable’ delay in the publication of the Chilcot Inquiry report into the Iraq War is being mounted by MPs who suspect it is part of a plot by allies of Tony Blair.

The group of MPs, led by Tory David Davis and former Lib Dem Minister Norman Baker, are planning to table a Commons debate early in the New Year calling for Sir John Chilcot’s incendiary £10million report to be released before the General Election.

Intense behind-the-scenes arguments over many of the sensitive Government documents seen by Sir John – including letters written by Tony Blair to George W. Bush – have held up the report’s publication, with many of the key players arguing that they should remain classified.

But Mr Blair’s critics suspect that the objections are a ‘blocking device’ designed to delay the report until after the May poll to limit the expected political damage to Labour.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2882100/MPs-bid-force-release-Iraq-report-Cross-party-end-intolerable-delay-amid-suspicions-plot-Blair-s-allies.html

[JDDavis]

1. Could you try to give us Americans a little background and road map here?

MP's in the UK means "Members of Parliament". Here in the USA, it often is used to denote "military police".

We also see the "May poll" as something we dance around on May first, not as what it really is: an election.

So we're up against a language barrier here, and some sentences in the Daily Mail do not equal truth or fact. and often serve to confuse and attention-grab with tabloid style versus actual historical facts.

Can you give us a little background and some context here?

[jakeXT]

2. There is a wiki page

In 2012, the government vetoed the release of the documents to the Inquiry detailing minutes of Cabinet meetings in the days leading up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Concurrently, the British Foreign Office successfully appealed against a judge's ruling and blocked the disclosure of extracts of a conversation between George W. Bush and Tony Blair moments before the invasion. The government stated that revealing a phone call conversation between Bush and Blair moments before the invasion would later present a "significant danger" to British-American relations.[7] The million word report of the Inquiry was due to be released to the public by 2014,[8] but difficult negotiations were continuing with the United States over the publication of documents.[9] The Lord-in-Waiting Lord Wallace of Saltaire said on behalf of the government that it would be "inappropriate" to publish the report in the months leading up to the next general election in 2015.[10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Inquiry

[JDDavis]

3. Thank you very much.

A little background goes a long way in understanding what that article is about.