Chilcot Inquiry: Hard copy of Iraq inquiry report to cost bereaved families £767

Families will instead be given a 'summary' of the report

Special relationship: Bush and Blair in 2001, two years before the invasion of Iraq (Getty)

A physical copy of the Chilcot Inquiry’s report into the Iraq War will cost £767, it has been announced.

Families of the 179 British soldiers killed in the conflict will not receive a free copy; next-of-kin will instead be given a printed summary of the findings.

While the 2.6 million word report will be freely available online, relatives of military personnel who served and died in Iraq have voiced anger at the move.

Roger Bacon, whose son was killed during conflict, told the Daily Telegraph newspaper the price tag was “ridiculous”.

“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.”

The Chilcot Inquiry was set up in 2009 by then prime minister Gordon Brown to look into the build up, conduct during, and aftermath of the invasion of Iraq.

Establishment figures are reportedly set to be heavily criticised in the inquiry’s report.

The process of drawing up the final report has been beset by years of delays. The most recent substantial delay came during the so-called “Maxwellisation” process where people criticised in the report are given an opportunity to respond.

Sir John Chilcot has been paid around £790 a day during this process; roughly the cost of the printed report to the public.

A spokesperson for the inquiry said the free summary given to the families of the war’s British victims would be “substantial”.