An inquiry into the Iraq war that meets in secret and reports after the next election is an insult – to the families of British servicemen and women who died, to the veterans and to the public.

Yet Gordon Brown – a week after he talked about democratic renewal and rebuilding trust in politics – has announced just such a secret inquiry, and the Conservatives have gone along with it.

I hope readers are as shocked and appalled as I am.

So what is the Government’s case for holding the Iraq war inquiry in secret?

That questions of national security are involved.

Well, of course – but not such that the vast bulk of the inquiry could not be held in public. Much of the sensitive information has already been disclosed anyway – either here or in the US.

And much of the information won’t be top secret. Where the enquiry needs to hear from secrets agents or to hear military secrets, then that part could be held in secret – in the way that many inquiries and tribunals often make provision for the occasional " in camera " hearing when necessary.

Given the US held its inquiry into 9/11 in public, it is frankly ludicrous the UK can’t over Iraq, 6 years after the invasion.

Perhaps there are some people who think any inquiry is a waste of money – whether public or private.

Yet there are many key questions that remain unanswered – and many lessons we must learn from the worst British foreign policy decision since Suez. It’s time we held those who planned and voted for this war to account