An official inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the Iraq war has begun. The five-member inquiry team is expected to spend the next eighteen months examining the reasons for Britain’s involvement in the 2003 US-led invasion and the subsequent occupation of Iraq.

John Chilcot, chair of the Iraq War Inquiry: “We are completely determined to write the story fully and frankly on the basis of all the evidence we can get. And it’s worth emphasizing we have complete access to the entirety of the government’s records, from top to bottom, throughout the nine years. And we already have seen more than enough to know nothing is being held back, because it can’t be. If there was a gap, we’d know it and find it.”