The inquiry was announced on 15 June 2009 by Prime MinisterGordon Brown. The original announcement was that the inquiry would take place in private. This decision was later reversed after receiving criticism in the media and the House of Commons.[3][4][5]
On 6 July 2016, Sir John Chilcot announced the report's publication, more than seven years after the inquiry was announced. It referred to as the Chilcot report by the news media, the document stated that Saddam Hussein was not an urgent threat and that the Iraq War was not necessary.