Mother of dead soldier 'sickened' by Chilcot decision

Tony Blair could intervene to ensure exchanges he had with George Bush in the run-up to the Iraq war are fully disclosed, Sir John Major has said.

The Chilcot Inquiry, which is looking into the decision to go to war, has reached a deal to publish the "gists" of the two leaders' communications.

But the Conservative former prime minister urged Mr Blair and Labour to consider giving permission for full disclosure, warning that revealing only partial extracts would allow suspicions about what took place to "fester and maybe worsen".

Sir John said there were "strict rules" preventing the current Government from getting involved, but that "withholding them is going to be very embarrassing for Tony Blair, not least of course because he brought the Freedom of Information Act into law when he was in government."

Former Prime Minister Sir John Major has said the decision to withhold some of the correspondence about the Iraq war will be "very embarrassing" for Tony Blair.

Sir John Major told Radio 4's Today programme: “I think it is a pity the papers are going to be withheld for several reasons. Firstly, they will leave suspicions unresolved and those suspicions will fester and maybe worsen."

He also argued that the ruling ran counter to Mr Blair's actions to make government more transparent.

"And secondly, in many ways I think withholding them is going to be very embarrassing for Mr Blair, not least of course because he brought in the Freedom of Information Act into law when he was in government."

Read: Mother of dead soldier 'sickened' by Chilcot decision

The mother of a 19-year-old soldier killed in Iraq has said she is "sickened" by the decision to only partially publish the correspondence between Tony Blair and George Bush in the lead-up to the war.

The Chilcot Inquiry, which is looking into the decision to go to war, has reached a deal to publish the "gists" of the two leaders' communications.

Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon was killed in 2004, said: "I feel sickened...How will the families get to know the truth? We are just shoved aside. We just feel, what's the point?"

She also claimed the former Prime Minister would "walk away" from the investigation "with a smile on his face".

Read: Bush-Blair Iraq talks disclosure agreed

The government says it is "doing everything it can" to ensure the Chilcot Inquiry is able to publish its long-awaited report into the Iraq report quickly, after a deal was finally reached to disclose the "gists" of conversations between George W Bush and Tony Blair.

An agreement has been reached over disclosing sensitive documents detailing discussions between Tony Blair and George Bush over Iraq.

Sir Jeremy Heywood, the Government's most senior civil servant, who was principal private secretary to Mr Blair in 10 Downing Street in the run-up to the war, has agreed the principles of handing over the "gists and quotes" of correspondence between the two former leaders.

Under review will be 25 notes from Mr Blair to Mr Bush and more than 130 records of conversations between the former Prime Minister and then US president.

In a letter to Sir Jeremy, Sir John Chilcot, the head of the Iraq inquiry, said "the use of direct quotation from the documents should be the minimum necessary".