The Iraq War inquiry was condemned as a whitewash last night after more than 150 crucial messages from Tony Blair to George W Bush were censored.
Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood has vetoed the release of the letters and phone calls in the run-up to the 2003 conflict, officials revealed.
In them, Mr Blair is said to have promised the US President: ‘You know, George, whatever you decide to do, I’m with you.’
The decision raises the possibility that the long-delayed findings of the £10million inquiry will be published before the general election.
The official reason for the censorship is that publication would deter prime ministers from speaking freely in private.
But critics said it was a shabby compromise that could fatally undermine public confidence in the findings.
Families of some of the 179 British soldiers killed in the conflict 11 years ago said last night they felt betrayed by the decision.
They believe the letters would reveal the real reason why Mr Blair dragged Britain into the catastrophic war to topple Saddam Hussein.
Rose Gentle, who lost her son Gordon, 19, said she felt let down. ‘I don’t think we’ll get the truth now,’ she said. ‘As far as we are concerned Tony Blair is just walking away from this.’
Reg Keys, who last year announced he would sue the Ministry of Defence for negligence after his son Lance Corporal Tom Keys was killed at the age of 21 in 2003, said on BBC2’s Newsnight programme last night: ‘I need to draw a line under this and until I know the whole truth I can’t. It will be an open wound until the day I die.’
The move follows two and a half years of wrangling between the Iraq inquiry and Whitehall officials over the publication of 25 letters sent by Mr Blair to President Bush and the transcripts of 130 phone calls between the two men.
In a letter yesterday, inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot confirmed his long-awaited report would publish only ‘the gist’ of Mr Blair’s messages to Mr Bush.
The US president’s replies will not be published in any form.
ECRECY AND DELAY IN FIVE-YEAR SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH ON IRAQ
June 15, 2009: Premier Gordon Brown announces inquiry led by Sir John Chilcot ‘to consider the period from the summer of 2001 to the end of July 2009, embracing the run-up to the conflict in Iraq, the military action and its aftermath.’
November 24, 2009: First public hearings.
January 29, 2010: Tony Blair gives evidence. Says he has no regrets about removing Saddam. Booed as he leaves.
February 2, 2011: Final public hearing. Former foreign secretary Jack Straw says UK never had a policy of regime change.
November 16, 2011: Report’s release put back until at least the summer of 2012 following a dispute with the Cabinet Office over the use of classified documents, including Blair’s private messages to George W Bush in the run-up to the war.
July 16, 2012: Sir John says the report will not be published before the middle of 2013 because no decision had been reached on which documents should be released.
November 7, 2013: Sir John suggests publication could be delayed indefinitely by row over over 130 new transcripts of conversations between Brown, Blair and Bush.
May 16, 2014: David Cameron says he hopes for publication by end of the year.
May 27, 2014: Blair insists he is not the reason for the hold-up, saying he wants to hear the findings so he can defend himself.
May 29, 2014: Deal reached for extracts of exchanges between Blair and Bush to be published – but full texts will remain secret, Daily Mail informs.
