Inquiry into the Iraq War

A much weakened PM agreed last week to hold an inquiry, led by a former civil servant, Sir John Chilcot, into the preparation and decisions about the Iraq war in 2002-2003, which the opposition had been demanding for a long time. Apparently under pressure from Tony Blair, Brown first announced that it would be held in private for security reasons, like the Francks inquiry into the Falklands war in the 1980s. But faced with outcry from the Conservatives, but also from former generals, the government is about to concede that most of the hearings could be held in public.
The run-up to the Iraq war has already been widely documented by actors and journalists, so it is doubtful whether anything new will come up, but the decision is a symbolic victory for opponents to the war as well as those who had supported it and felt betrayed when it appeared that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (Blair's main justification for going to war in the first place). It will have no effect on Labour's electoral prospects since its report will be published after the next general election.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives have announced the membership of their new group in the European Parliament, called 'European Conservatives and Reformists'. More details here.