Family of Britons killed in Iraq invasion given access to Chilcot report prior to its publications

The Iraq Inquiry chairman, John Chilcot, says he hopes his report will ensure future military intervention on such a scale will only be possible with more careful analysis and political judgement

About 28,000 British soldiers were sent by the Coalition to Iraq
About 28,000 British soldiers were sent by the Coalition to Iraq

The relatives of British troops and civilians killed in Iraq are being given access to the report prior to its publication, although the Guardian reports that some are boycotting the occasion believing it will be a whitewash.

The 12-volume Chilcot report on the conflict in Iraq is to be released today, seven years after the inquiry began.

The report was handed to British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday and will be available online on the Iraq Inquiry website following a statement by Privy Counsellor John Chilcot in which he will set out its findings at 11am today.

Speaking to the BBC, Chilot said the report would criticise individuals and institutions.

He said he hoped it would help families of the 179 Britons who died between 2003 and 2009 answer some questions.

"The main expectation that I have is that it will not be possible in future to engage in a military or indeed a diplomatic endeavour on such a scale and of such gravity without really careful challenge analysis and assessment and collective political judgment being applied to it. There are many lessons in the report but that probably is the central one for the future."

Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair was one of more than 100 witnesses to give evidence to the inquiry, appearing before the panel twice, to answer for his decision to commit British troops to the US invasion of Iraq, the BBC reports.

The report is said to include details of declassified Cabinet papers, intelligence assessments of Iraq's weapons capability and private correspondence between Blair and the then US President George W Bush relating to the conflict and the basis for the military intervention.