Army chief piles pressure on Brown over Iraq inquiry

Published on Wednesday 17 June 2009 22:07

THE pressure on Gordon Brown to allow the Iraq war inquiry to sit in public intensified last night after the head of the army disclosed he was not consulted about the decision to conduct the hearings behind closed doors.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, said that he saw "a lot of merit" in holding at least some hearings in public with others taking place in private when sensitive intelligence was being discussed.

He suggested the wisdom of the government's decision to hold all the hearings in private would only be seen when the inquiry finally reports next year.

"I was not privy to the discussions about how this inquiry was going to be done. I am sure the option of part in public and part in private was considered and I think that is an option that has got a lot of merit to it," he said.

"The proof of the pudding will be in the eating when it is published – whatever is published – in a year's time."

His comments came after his predecessor, General Sir Mike Jackson who was head of the army at the time of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, said that he would have "no problem at all" in giving his evidence in public.

Earlier the Prime Minister's spokesman said the Cabinet Office had consulted with all relevant Whitehall departments – including the MoD and serving military officers – on the decision to conduct hearings in private.