Iraq Inquiry: security bill for Blair's appearance 'up to £250,000'

Published 25th Jan 2010

Thousands of anti-war protesters and Muslim extremists are expected to line the streets outside the inquiry in protest against his decision to invade Iraq. Intelligence officers are also reported to have picked up “domestic chatter” suggesting his appearance warrants a high state of alert.

Police will set up road blocks, exclusion zones, and deploy teams of armed officers and rooftop surveillance teams. The operation will cost at least £150,000 and could reach £250,000 depending on the number of protesters, according to the Daily Mail.

It comes after the Government raised the level of terrorist threat from “substantial” to “severe” following the Christmas Day attempted plane bombing.

Mr Blair will be questioned by the inquiry panel, led by retired civil servant Sir John Chilcot, over suspicions he misled Parliament on the reasons for going to war before MPs narrowly voted in favour of military action.

Stop The War campaigners claim Mr Blair's appearance at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster will reignite calls for him to be tried for war crimes.

Several witnesses, including the former Cabinet Secretary Lord Turnbull, have suggested that Mr Blair was intent on regime change in Iraq from the spring of 2002 onwards, and used Saddam Hussein's supposed stockpile of weapons of mass destruction as a smokescreen to justify military action.

Mr Blair will also be questioned on why he claimed intelligence had “proved beyond doubt” that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction while some witnesses have said the facts did not support this.

Last year it emerged that Mr Blair is running up a bill of at least £6 million a year by using a security team bigger than the current Prime Minister's.

Source: ' Telegraph '

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