The long-awaited report into the Iraq war is set to be published next summer, Sir John Chilcot has said.
In a letter to David Cameron, the inquiry chairman said he hoped it would finally be made public next June or July. Last month it was revealed the inquiry had received the final responses from those criticised in its report, which covers the build-up, military action and aftermath of the conflict in Iraq that began in 2003.
The report is set to be completed in April 2016, at which point it will be checked by national security officials.
Jeremy Heywood interview: the cabinet secretary and head of the civil service on life at the top of Whitehall
Butler: Poor briefings for Iraq War Cabinet meetings were ‘deliberate’
FCO braced for criticism on Iraq record-keeping
Educater - helping the public sector learn its lessons
In a letter to the prime minister, Sir John said: “We will complete that work as swiftly as possible. I consider that once National Security checking has been completed it should be possible to agree with you a date for publication in June or July 2016."
He said the two million word report will take “some weeks” to prepare for printing and publication.
“My colleagues and I remain committed to producing a report that will meet the very wide ranging terms of reference we were given and reflect the considerable investment of time and effort by all involved,” Sir John added.
Earlier this month, cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood defended his own role in the inquiry, telling Civil Service World he had been pressing other government departments and lawyers in favour of the release of the correspondence between former prime minister Tony Blair and former US president George Bush.