Nine things that cost the same as the £10m Chilcot report
Seven years on and the inquiry into the Iraq war by Sir John Chilcot is finally published today.
After that amount of time – longer than the war itself – there are doubts about the impact any conclusions will have, however, it will provide the most comprehensive analysis of the tumultuous period, drawing upon high level discussions had by world leaders and the inner workings of the top level of the UK government.
That comes at a cost of just over £10m. Here's what you could get for that same amount to put it in context.
1. Air Force One
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The government Air Force One-style private jet for use by the Prime Minister and other officials, announced last year (though yet to be seen), could become a fleet of two.
2. Driverless cars
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The research committed towards driverless car research and development in Britain could be doubled.
3. Teachers
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With an average salary of £37,400, that kind of cash would afford an 267 teachers for a year.
4. War and Peace
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At 2.8m words, the Chilcot report is four times as long as Tolstoy’s epic War and Peace. And for the same price of Chilcot, you could buy 1.25m copies of the £7.99 paperback novel – one for every single person in Birmingham with more to spare.
5. Foreign aid spending in Iraq
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That amount of money would provide two years of foreign aid spending in Iraq.
6. Trip to Iraq
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At a cost of around £650 per ticket, you could fly from London to Baghdad more than 15,000 times.
7. State funeral
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£10m was spent on the funeral of former PM Margaret Thatcher.
8. Family homes for refugees
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More than 40,000 tents could be bought to provide shelter for refugee families
9. Mansions
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This six bed house in Chelsea, or this penthouse apartment in South Kensington.
And one thing it couldn't…
A report on the UK's airport expansion plans, another long awaited report which finally arrived last year, cost nearly double at an estimated £15m – £20m.