The war is over - what next?

The BBC is now reporting that:

British combat operations in Iraq will come to an end on Thursday lunchtime with a handover to American forces.

It says that the move is a month ahead of schedule. The Guardian reports that

Britain's combat role – including patrolling the city of Basra – was originally due to end on 31 July but was brought forward.
...
The bulk of the 4,000 or so UK troops will have returned home by 31 May, leaving a residual number to clear up and pack whatever equipment the army wants to bring home or send to Afghanistan.

That leaves an awful lot of time to fill if the government is going to avoid announcing an Iraq inquiry before the end of July.