Downing Street Says » Iraq Inquiry

» Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Iraq Inquiry

Asked whether the Prime Minister was consulted on the decision that the Iraq Inquiry should not publish certain documents, the PMS said that this was a decision made by the Cabinet Secretary and that the process adhered to was set out in the protocol when the Chilcot Inquiry was established. He added that the Prime Minister had no role in the decision.

The PMS said a number of Government documents had been declassified, but that the Cabinet Secretary had set out the reasoning for his decision on this occasion in his letter to Sir John Chilcot, which was that it could have an impact on diplomatic relations in future if this correspondence was to be declassified. He added that it was also standard procedure not to allow Ministers of current Governments to see papers from previous Governments, which was one reason why the issue was dealt with by the Cabinet Secretary. The Chilcot Inquiry had seen all the papers in question so could conduct its inquiry.

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