By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor
Shockingly after the amount of time the families of loved ones who died in the Iraq war will NOT get a free copy of the Chilcot Report.
A hard copy will set you back £767, a huge amount of money, which will anger the 179 families of fallen British soldiers and anyone else who wants to look into the 12-volume report, which will be published.
Next-of-kin will be given a free hard copy of the executive summary, which would se them back £30. If they want to read the rest of the report, they will have to download it, which is free.
Roger Bacon, whose son was killed in Iraq, told the Telegraph it was “ridiculous and very unfair”.
“Where do they think the families are going to get the funds from to do that? This is big money for most people. We are not corporations or government organisations, we are ordinary people,” he said.
“To be expected to pay that amount of money for a report that has had an enormous effect on all of us is really not on.
“To deal with something like this you need to have something you can hold and read. It is offensive to expect us to cough up that amount of money.”
Families have also been invited to attend inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot’s public statement when the report is published and will be able to read an embargoed copy.
The delay in the report, and its cost, has already been highly criticised by many sections of the media and beyond. This news may be seen as a slap in the face to the families whose loved ones never came back.
It is expected that the findings will come down harshly on Tony Blair, but he has vowed to come out fighting regardless of the reports conclusions.