Iraq inquiry will be in private: PM

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Gordon Brown told the Commons the inquiry would look at the run-up to the war in 2003, the war itself and the following "re-construction" period.

To jeers from Tory MPs, he said it will take a year to report - taking it beyond the next General Election.

British troops conducted their last combat mission on April 30 and their withdrawal is expected to be completed by July 31. The Premier told MPs that, with the last UK combat mission over in Iraq, "now is the right time to ensure we have a proper process in place to learn the lessons".

The investigation would be an "independent privy councillor committee of inquiry" covering an eight-year period. "The committee will have access to the fullest range of information, including secret information," he said. "Their investigation can range across all documents, all papers and all material. No British documents and no British witness will be beyond the scope of the inquiry."

Opposition leaders criticised the decision to hold the inquiry behind closed doors and the nature of the panel conducting the investigation.

Tory leader David Cameron said the membership of the inquiry "looks quite limited", the terms of reference are "restrictive", the investigation was not specifically charged with making recommendations and "none of it will be held in public". By not reporting until after the next election, the public will conclude that it was "fixed to make sure the Government avoids having to face up to any inconvenient conclusions".

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said: "A secret inquiry conducted by a clutch of grandees hand-picked by the Prime Minister is not what Britain needs."

And Tony Benn, the former Labour cabinet minister, condemned the inquiry, saying it would fail to tackle the "simple question of why the war was waged".

He said: "This is anything but an inquiry into the Iraq war. All we want to know is 'why?' To answer that question would not compromise security - it should be public."