Daily Mail | 22 May 2016
Tony Blair’s reputation will be seriously damaged by the upcoming Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War, according to a senior source who has discussed the report with its authors.
The report – which will finally be published on July 6 – will also deliver an ‘absolute brutal’ verdict on the former Labour prime minister, ex-foreign secretary Jack Straw and the former MI6 boss Sir Richard Dearlove, a former government minister added.
Mr Blair ‘won’t be let off the hook’ over claims he offered British military assistance to US President George Bush before the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
But some of the harshest criticism will be reserved for Mr Straw over the aftermath of the war and the top general who oversaw the city of Basra after it was captured, a source told the Sunday Times.
Mr Straw has been sent a 5,000-word letter by the Chilcot inquiry listing alleged failings over the Iraq war, sources said yesterday.
The length and weight of detail of potential criticisms indicate the report may draw tough conclusions on the war’s architects.
