John Chilcot
Encyclopedia
The Rt. Hon. Sir John Chilcot, GCB, PC
(born 22 April 1939) is a Privy Counsellor
and former civil servant. His appointment as chair of an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the March 2003 invasion of Iraq and its aftermath was announced in June 2009.
He was educated at Brighton College
and Pembroke College, Cambridge
, where he read English and languages. A career civil servant until his retirement in 1997, he served as Permanent Under-Secretary of State
at the Northern Ireland Office
, Deputy Under-Secretary at the Home Office
in charge of the Police Department, and a variety of posts in the Home Office, the Civil Service Department and the Cabinet Office
, including Private Secretary appointments to Home Secretaries
Roy Jenkins
, Merlyn Rees
, and Willie Whitelaw
, and to the Head of the Civil Service, William Armstrong
.
His honours include CB
(1990), KCB (1994), and GCB (1998). He became a Privy Counsellor in 2004, and was a member of the Butler Review
of the use of intelligence in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He acted as "staff counsellor" to MI5
and MI6 from 1999 to 2004, "dealing with private and personal complaints from members of the intelligence services about their work and conditions."
He is described as "a mandarin with a safe pair of hands", though some doubt his forensic skill. International lawyer Philippe Sands
is reported as saying "Having some familiarity with Sir John's questioning ... it is not immediately apparent that he will have the backbone to take on former government ministers." Sands also commented specifically in The Observer
, on Sir John’s questioning of attorney-general Peter Goldsmith during the Butler inquiry:
announced that Chilcot would chair an inquiry into the Iraq War, despite his participation in the discredited secret Butler report
. Opposition parties, campaigners and back bench members of the ruling Labour Party
condemned the decision to hold the inquiry in secret and its highly restrictive terms of reference which would not, for example, permit any blame to be apportioned.
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
(born 22 April 1939) is a Privy Counsellor
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
and former civil servant. His appointment as chair of an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the March 2003 invasion of Iraq and its aftermath was announced in June 2009.
He was educated at Brighton College
Brighton College
Brighton College is an institution divided between a Senior School known simply as Brighton College, the Prep School and the Pre-Prep School. All of these schools are co-educational independent schools in Brighton, England, sited immediately next to each another. The Senior School caters for...
and Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...
, where he read English and languages. A career civil servant until his retirement in 1997, he served as Permanent Under-Secretary of State
Permanent Secretary
The Permanent secretary, in most departments officially titled the permanent under-secretary of state , is the most senior civil servant of a British Government ministry, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis...
at the Northern Ireland Office
Northern Ireland Office
The Northern Ireland Office is a United Kingdom government department responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and is based in Northern Ireland at Stormont House.-Role:...
, Deputy Under-Secretary at the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
in charge of the Police Department, and a variety of posts in the Home Office, the Civil Service Department and the Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
, including Private Secretary appointments to Home Secretaries
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
Roy Jenkins
Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
, Merlyn Rees
Merlyn Rees, Baron Merlyn-Rees
Merlyn Rees, later Merlyn Merlyn-Rees, Baron Merlyn-Rees, PC was a Welsh-born Labour party Member of Parliament from 1963 until 1992, having served as Home Secretary...
, and Willie Whitelaw
William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw
William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, KT, CH, MC, PC, DL , often known as Willie Whitelaw, was a British Conservative Party politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as Home Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.-Early life:Whitelaw was born in Nairn, in...
, and to the Head of the Civil Service, William Armstrong
William Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Sanderstead
William Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Sanderstead GCB, MVO, PC was a British civil servant and banker.The son of William Armstrong and Priscilla Hopkins, he was born in Clapton in London. Armstrong was educated at Bec School in Tooting and Exeter College, Oxford...
.
His honours include CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(1990), KCB (1994), and GCB (1998). He became a Privy Counsellor in 2004, and was a member of the Butler Review
Butler Review
On February 3, 2004, the British Government announced an inquiry into the intelligence relating to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction which played a key part in the Government's decision to invade Iraq in 2003. A similar investigation was set up in the USA...
of the use of intelligence in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He acted as "staff counsellor" to MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
and MI6 from 1999 to 2004, "dealing with private and personal complaints from members of the intelligence services about their work and conditions."
He is described as "a mandarin with a safe pair of hands", though some doubt his forensic skill. International lawyer Philippe Sands
Philippe Sands
Philippe Sands, QC is a British lawyer at Matrix Chambers, and is Professor of International law at University College London. Sands is notable for writing a book, Lawless World, in which he accused US President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of conspiring to invade Iraq in violation...
is reported as saying "Having some familiarity with Sir John's questioning ... it is not immediately apparent that he will have the backbone to take on former government ministers." Sands also commented specifically in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, on Sir John’s questioning of attorney-general Peter Goldsmith during the Butler inquiry:
Chilcot inquiry
On 15 June the then British prime minister Gordon BrownGordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
announced that Chilcot would chair an inquiry into the Iraq War, despite his participation in the discredited secret Butler report
Butler Review
On February 3, 2004, the British Government announced an inquiry into the intelligence relating to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction which played a key part in the Government's decision to invade Iraq in 2003. A similar investigation was set up in the USA...
. Opposition parties, campaigners and back bench members of the ruling Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
condemned the decision to hold the inquiry in secret and its highly restrictive terms of reference which would not, for example, permit any blame to be apportioned.