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Gordon Prentice, MP for Pendle, said the “whole climate of opinion” had changed since the Franks Inquiry in 1982: “I had hoped for a new politics of openness after last week. I’m not prepared to accept a secret inquiry.”

Mr Brown insisted that the inquiry would be of “unprecedented” scope, covering the lead-up to the invasion from summer 2001 to the withdrawal of the main body of British troops this year. It would have access to all British documents, including secret material, and would be able to call any British citizen as a witness, as well as inviting foreign nationals to give evidence.

It will be chaired by Sir John Chilcot, a former permanent secretary at the Northern Ireland office, who was a member of the Butler Inquiry into the intelligence on Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction.

Rose Gentle, who mounted a lengthy campaign against the UK’s presence in Iraq after her son, Gordon, 19, was killed in 2004, said she would continue to lobby for a full public inquiry. “Most of the families who lost loved ones just want a simple answer to a simple question: Why did we go in to Iraq in the first place?”

Inquiring minds

The Franks Inquiry, 1982

After the Falklands campaign, Margaret Thatcher ordered an inquiry into the perceived intelligence failings that allowed Argentina’s invasion of the South Atlantic islands. It was held in secret. Lord Franks, a retired senior civil servant and former Washington ambassador, headed the committee, which produced its report in January 1983, stating that little could have been done to prevent the invasion in April 1982.

The Hutton Inquiry, 2003

Lord Hutton, a law lord, was asked to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr David Kelly, the MoD weapons expert who had spoken to a BBC reporter in sceptical terms about the Government’s official dossier on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. The BBC ran a report saying the intelligence dossier had been “sexed up”. The judge heard evidence in public. In January 2004 the inquiry cleared the Government of wrongdoing. The BBC was strongly criticised.

The Butler Inquiry , 2004

Lord Butler of Brockwell, former Cabinet Secretary, headed a five-member committee that examined the quality of the intelligence that backed the Government’s decision to go to war with Iraq. The review of intelligence reports and questioning of witnesses were carried out in secret. Published in July 2004, it concluded that much of the intelligence was unreliable.

The Saville Inquiry , 2000

Lord Saville of Newdigate, a Lord of Appeal, led the inquiry into the Bloody Sunday fatal shooting by soldiers of The Parachute Regiment of 12 demonstrators in Londonderry in April 1972. Formal hearings began in public. The inquiry has cost £150 million and has yet to publish the findings.

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