Following pledges given before the general election, the Government has confirmed that an independent review will be conducted into the 1994 crash of RAF Chinook ZD576 on the Mull of Kintyre which killed 25 intelligence staff and the four aircraft crew.
Taking Prime Minister's Questions, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told Defence Committee Chairman, James Arbuthnot: "I am pleased to be able to confirm that we will be holding an independent review of the evidence on the Mull of Kintyre disaster and I hope the review will be welcomed by the families of those who died in this tragic accident.
"To ensure its complete independence, the review will be conducted by a respected lawyer who is independent of the Government and who has not previously expressed a view on the disaster. The reviewer and the precise terms of reference will be announced soon."
Mr Arbuthnot had asked how the independence of the review would be assured.
He told MPs: "Every inquiry that has been held which has been independent of the Ministry of Defence has found it impossible to attribute negligence to the pilots who died in the crash."
The review is expected to be conducted in private by a retired Scottish judge, Lord Philip, and to take three to four months.
- Guardian: New inquiry into 1994 Mill of Kintyre Chinook crash announced
- Daily Telegraph: New inquiry into Chinook crash which killed intelligence officers