Iraq Inquiry Digest

Get there quick – or watch online!

by Chris Ames

The Inquiry has announced details of public access to its hearings, which begin next week the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster, and of possible t.v. and internet coverage:

“There will be more than 100 seats available for people who want to watch the Iraq Inquiry’s public hearings, which begin on Tuesday 24 November at the QEII conference centre in Central London. Around sixty of the seats will be in the main hearing room, with the remainder in a nearby overspill room with large TV screens showing a feed of witnesses giving evidence.

“For the first five weeks public access to the Inquiry will be on a first come, first served basis. Hearings timetables will be published on the Inquiry’s website a week in advance. Those in the hearing room will be expected to observe similar standards of behaviour to those that apply in Parliament, to avoid disrupting proceedings. Members of the public wishing to attend are encouraged to look at the Hearings section of the Inquiry’s website (www.iraqinquiry.org.uk) for further details on how to attend.

“For those who cannot attend in person, a contract is being finalised to ensure that the hearings will be streamed on the internet and broadcast on television. Video records and written transcripts of all the public evidence sessions will also be stored on the website.”

Sir John Chilcot, the Inquiry chairman, said:

“I have consistently made clear the importance I attach to the Inquiry’s hearings being conducted in public to the greatest extent possible. The Committee has chosen to follow the model used by Parliamentary Select Committees, with space being made available for a limited number of members of the public to sit in the hearing room to listen to witnesses direct.”

The detailed arrangements have been published in a pdf file on the Inquiry’s website. This says that “proceedings will be streamed on the internet” via the site.

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