Overview

• The inquiry launched in 2015 by Theresa May has already spent £170.6 million and is projected to exceed £200 million, overtaking the Bloody Sunday and Grenfell Tower probes.
• Sir John Mitting will step down after the second interim report due in 2026, raising concerns that appointing his successor could further extend the timeline.
• Legal tactics used to protect undercover officers’ identities have driven up costs and elongated hearings for the inquiry’s 249 core participants.
• The inquiry has released 70 cover names from the Metropolitan Police’s Special Demonstration Squad and will focus its next evidence hearings on 1993–2007 operations, including the Stephen Lawrence investigation.
• Critics including Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp say the probe is spiraling out of control and warn that escalating costs could force cuts to frontline policing budgets.