Yorkshire families' call for Blair to face full inquiry

Lance Corporal Ben Hyde, of Northallerton, was shot and killed along with five of his colleagues by a masked mob near Basra in 2003.

The 23-year-old didn’t have the recommended number of bullets, an inquest in 2006 heard, and was without a radio which he could have used to call for help.

As the Chilcot report yesterday condemned the Government’s hasty actions in sending soldiers into war without key equipment, his father has spoken of his anger at Tony Blair.

And he has revealed that he hopes to hear in coming days from the Attorney General about the fight of the six soldiers’ families for a new inquest into their deaths.

“A second inquest would give us the chance to let everybody know what really happened that day and whose fault it was,” said John Hyde, 68, who believes that with a radio, Ben may have been saved by a rescue team.

“One soldier, in a sworn statement, said ‘had he known the lads were there, he could have got them out’. That was never taken into account.”

The families of some of the soldiers have battled for years for a second inquest, as they say the first one didn’t air all evidence.

“We’re not going to go away,” said Mr Hyde. “The establishment think we will just die off. It’s not going to happen.”

Mr Hyde is now calling for further investigations into Tony Blair’s actions in sending British servicemen into war without enough equipment.

“They went when they didn’t need to. They went based on flawed assumptions,” he said.

“Do I blame Tony Blair for Ben’s death?” he asks. “Yes, is the simple answer. If it wasn’t for Tony Blair, Ben wouldn’t have been there.”

Peter Brierley, from Batley, is another father who lost a son in the Iraq war. Lance Corporal Shaun Brierley, 28, died in a crash in Kuwait in 2003 when his Land Rover overturned.

His father was also in London yesterday as the findings of the Chilcot report were revealed, and he believes there is sufficient evidence for Tony Blair to be brought before a court.

He also said the report’s damning conclusion that military action was not “a last resort” showed that his son died in vain.

“I would like to see Tony Blair standing in a courtroom and I think, judging by what I have read in the summary, there is enough evidence in the report for that to happen,” he said.

“To hear that war in this case was not a last resort just makes me feel that Shaun’s death was completely unnecessary, as has been all the devastation we have seen in Iraq.

“I hope that if a time comes when we are considering whether to go to war again, then what we have learned today is remembered and taken into account.”

Mr Brierley, 65, added: “The report has exceeded my expectations. I thought it could be close to a cover-up, with reams of facts and figures. At first glance, though, it is near to being what I hoped it would be.”