?WHAT cost £10 million, is black and white and not read all over?

Seven years in the making, the Chilcot report was finally published this week

At 2.6 million words long it was what's known in the game as a "hefty tome", longer than the bible, War and Peace and the entire works of Shakespeare stitched together.

And just like those bulky books, it seems there's plenty of people out there who have an opinion on it without consuming even a small part.

After more postponements than Southern Rail, Sir John Chilcot delivered his verdict on the Iraq war last week.

The response was immediate.

Within minutes of Chilcot finishing his 30 minute speech, there was a press conference of families calling Tony Blair the world's biggest terrorist.

Outside on the south bank our very own Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas was calling the former Prime Minister a war criminal.

And on my own social media people were making very obvious use of hashtag #Bliar and #tonyblairisgoingtojail.

But nowhere in the damning report did it mention that the Prime Minister lied to the country or that the war was illegal.

Yes, Iraq was a massive mistake.

Yes, the British army was not equipped for it 

Yes, the situation now is worse than before the UK got involved.

Yes, the loss of life of armed forces personnel and of Iraqis is a total shame.

Chilcot underlined all of this.

But he also confirmed it was a war which was backed by the Prime Minister, voted for by Parliament and deemed legal by the country's most senior lawyer.

The moon has whizzed round the earth a fair few times since the report was published - but still I've yet to find anyone who has found anything new to say about the report.

Rather than dissecting the findings, journalists, politicians and campaigners are ?hammering the copy and paste buttons on their computers to repeat the same things said a decade ago.

Those who back Blair are sticking to their guns.

Those who think he's a liar are dusting off the placards produced back in 2003.

And we, the wider public, are happy to go along with it, even if it is reopening a load of old wounds along the way.

The biggest lesson I've learned from Chilcot is we are now living in a post-fact, post-reason world.

With people more and more desperate to get their message heard through the murky swamp of information online, facts are increasingly being put to one side.

They are replaced by outrageous, angry and emotional pleas which create an instant response.

Moments later, they are discarded - and they only emerge again five years later when Facebook, in a rare spate of social media conscience, reminds you what you were up to? back in the day.

While that's fine among Facebook friends, in politics these decisions have lasting consequences.

With the potential of a Brexit masterminded on false promises of extra cash for the NHS, in a few years time we could be facing another Chilcot.

But what would be the point?

For a start, it would cost an awful lot of money.

But also no one would read it.

Surely it's much better that we ?just get our head out of the social media sand and start to ask a few calm and rational questions before springing straight to the war cry.

Who'd have thought a journalist would be saying to the wider public don't let a good story get in the way of the facts, hey?

The Argus: Ross Taylor batting for Sussex in their T20 match with Gloucestershire.  Picture: SNAP

FOR those that haven't managed to take in a T20 cricket game at Hove, what have you been doing?

Exciting, exhilarating, enthralling, even. Sporting fans will be immediately taken in by the entertainment on the pitch.

The Friday night games are particularly good, with a nice mix of families, friends and colleagues enjoying the action on and off the oval.

For parents worried about the kids, don't, as the giant mascot Sid the Shark will become guardian for the night.

At one game I went to, a particularly noisy kid started hitting him with an inflatable bat.

Sid responded by picking him up, putting him in a wheely bin and closing the lid, to cheers from the crowd.

Just don't tell Ofsted....