Chilcot Inquiry into Iraq War: Key moments

Ahead of the publication of the report into the Iraq War, we look at the key moments in the inquiry.

  • June 2009: Gordon Brown sets up the inquiry

Then prime minister Gordon Brown announces the establishment of an inquiry, led by former civil servant Sir John Chilcot, to "learn the lessons" of the Iraq War.

  • November 2009: Chilcot Inquiry's first public hearings

People queue to enter the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, the venue of the Chilcot Inquiry public hearings. Credit: PA Wire

Four senior diplomats and advisers give evidence about the origins of the Iraq War on day one.

The following day, the inquiry hears that the UK received intelligence days before invading Iraq that Saddam Hussein may not have been able to use chemical weapons.

  • December 2009: Warnings about the Iraq War

Senior British officer Major General Tim Cross says he urged Tony Blair to delay the Iraq invasion two days before the conflict.

He also says planning for the period after the conflict was "woefully thin".

  • January 2010: The 'dodgy dossier'

Alastair Campbell arrives to give evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry. Credit: PA Wire

In a near-five hour appearance, Tony Blair's former communications chief Alastair Campbell tells the inquiry that he would defend "every single word" of the infamous 2002 dossier Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

The dossier contained the much-criticised claim that Saddam Hussein's weapons could be launched within 45 minutes.

  • January 2010: Jack Straw appears before the Inquiry

Then foreign secretary Jack Straw says supporting the Iraq invasion was the "most difficult decision" of his life.

He says he took the decision "very reluctantly" because he disagreed with the US's aim of regime change as a basis for the invasion.

  • January 2010: Tony Blair appears

Protesters demonstrate against Tony Blair out outside the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, where the Chilcot Inquiry public hearings took place. Credit: Reuters

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair rigorously defends his decision to take the UK to war.

During six hours of questioning, Mr Blair says he has no regrets in removing Saddam Hussein and would make the same decision again.

  • February 2010: Clare Short gives evidence

Former International Development Secretary Clare Short says Tony Blair's cabinet was "misled" into believing the Iraq War was legal.

She says Attorney General Lord Goldsmith was "leaned on" to change his advice before the invasion.

  • March 2010: Gordon Brown appears before the Inquiry

Gordon Brown appears at a hearing of the Chilcot Inquiry. Credit: PA Wire

Making his long-awaited appearance, then-prime minister Gordon Brown says he fully backed the 2003 war, and was kept briefed by Tony Blair in the lead-up to the conflict.

  • July 2010: Former MI5 head: Iraq war 'radicalised' young people

Baroness Manningham-Buller tells the inquiry that the Iraq invasion radicalised a generation of young people, and that the action "substantially" increased the terrorist threat to the UK.

  • July 2010: UN's Hans Blix: Iraq War was illegal

Former chief UN weapons inspector Dr Hans Blix arrives to give evidence at a hearing of the Iraq Inquiry. Credit: PA Wire

The UN's former chief weapons inspector Hans Blix says it is his "firm view" that the Iraq War was illegal.

He says that his inspectors visited 500 sites in Iraq but found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction.

  • January 2011: Tony Blair appears for the second time

Tony Blair during his appearance before the Chilcot Inquiry in January 2011. Credit: Reuters

In his second appearance, Tony Blair expresses "deep and profound regret" about the loss of UK and Iraqi lives during and after the 2003 war.

He admits that former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith could have been more closely involved in decision-making, but maintains that the war was lawful.

  • November 2011: First delay in publication

Nine months after the last public hearings, the Inquiry says it will not publish its report until the summer of 2012 at the earliest - six months later than had been expected.

  • July 2012: Further delays announced

Sir John Chilcot says in a letter to the prime minister that he will not publish the report before the middle of 2013 at the earliest - 10 years after the war.

  • November 2013: Deadlock in publication

Sir John Chilcot. Credit: PA Wire

The inquiry says it cannot continue with the next stage of its work because key information such as correspondence between Tony Blair and George W Bush has not yet been released.

  • October 2015: General publication date announced

In a letter to David Cameron, who had previously said he was "fast losing patience" over the time taken to publish the report, Sir John Chilcot said he expects to finish the report by April 2016.

Allowing for National Security checking, he says the prime minister should be able to publish the report in June or July 2016.

  • May 2016: Final publication date revealed

Following an agreement between Sir John Chilcot and the prime minister, the report's publication date is finally announced as July 6.