Editorial: Welcome signs of life from Chilcot

A rare and fleeting glimpse this week of what the Chilcot report on Iraq might produce.

The inquiry, which opened in late 2009 and concluded its hearings in 2011, is long gone from the headlines; occasional leaks hint at continuing deadlock with officialdom on which confidential documents may be released. The word is that Lord Chilcot and his panel are still arguing that the documents they have read should be open to the rest of us, too. As The Independent reported yesterday, they may be winning.

The prospect, we revealed, is of a report that “authoritatively confronts the established narrative from 2002-2003” – the period of secret emails, public protests and dodgy dossiers. If this is so – and not just a diversion timed for the 10th anniversary of the invasion – then the report will be worth the time it has taken. We look forward to its finally seeing the light of day.