Special report: David Kelly

Midday update


Guardian
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blair: I would have resigned

Tom Happold and agencies
Thursday August 28, 2003


Moment of truth: Blair gives evidence to the Hutton
inquiry. Photo: PA.

Tony Blair today told the Hutton inquiry he would have
resigned if Andrew Gilligan's claim that No 10 had
'sexed up' the September dossier on Iraq had been
true.
The prime minister today described Andrew Gilligan's
claim as an allegation that "would have merited my
resignation.

Giving evidence to the Hutton inquiry the prime
minister also said the dossier was "not making the
case for war" and denied that Alastair Campbell had
been involved in anything more than assisting with its
"presentation".

It was Gilligan's Today programme report alleging that
No 10 had "sexed up" the dossier that sparked the
bitter battle between the government and the BBC,
which is believed to have led to the death -
apparently by his own hand - of Dr Kelly.

"[The dossier] had to be a document that was owned by
the joint intelligence committee and the chairman,
John Scarlett," Mr Blair told the inquiry.

Questioned further on the publication of the dossier,
the prime minister said: "There was a tremendous
amount of information and evidence coming across my
desk as to weapons of mass destruction and the
programmes associated with them that Saddam had."

He said public debate was growing and that there was
"an enormous clamour" to know what intelligence the
government had.

"I recall throughout the August break last year,
literally every day, there were stories appearing
saying we were going to invade Iraq, that military
action had been decided upon," he told the inquiry.

He added: "We really had to disclose what we knew ...
people were not unnaturally saying 'produce that
intelligence then'."

Mr Blair said: "I think it is very important that the
September dossier was not making the case for war. It
was making the case for the issue [of Iraqi WMD] to be
dealt with."

Asked if he was aware of unhappiness within the
intelligence community about the way the dossier was
handled and complaints made about its presentation Mr
Blair replied: "Absolutely not, no."

He then went onto to describe how he was visiting
British troops in Basra on May 29 when he was told
about Mr Gilligan's report. Asked his reaction, Mr
Blair said: "It was an extraordinary allegation to
make and an extremely serious one."

"It is one thing to say we disagree with the
government, we should not have gone to war, people can
have a disagreement about that ... but if the
allegation had been true, it would have merited my
resignation."

He added: "This was an attack that not only went to
the heart of the office of prime minister but an
attack on how our intelligence services operated ...
and on the country as a whole."

Turning to the investigation into the BBC allegation,
Mr Blair said that he initially though the
intelligence and security committee not the foreign
affairs committee was best placed to look at the
issue.

He said he "worried at the very beginning" that when a
select committee was looking at an issue which "is
such a huge and hot political issue", the danger was
that it would split down party lines.

Mr Blair is also expected to be asked about his role
in the decision making process that led to the
exposure of David Kelly.

Yesterday, the defence secretary, Geoff Hoon,
identified him as one of the architects of the "naming
strategy" which led to the scientist's exposure.

Mr Hoon claimed in his evidence that Mr Blair's two
chief lieutenants, Jonathan Powell and Alastair
Campbell, were intimately involved in the
decision-making process that led to the government
weapons inspector being unmasked.

He said he had lengthy telephone conversations with Mr
Campbell, No 10's communications chief, the weekend
after Dr Kelly had come forward and admitted to
meeting BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan.

He also claimed that it had been Mr Powell, the prime
minister's chief of staff, who told him to write to
the BBC chairman of governors, Gavyn Davies, naming
the scientist.

The defence secretary stated that he was "aware the
prime minister essentially took the same view" as he
did, that Dr Kelly should appear before the foreign
affairs select committee (FAC). Dr Kelly later told a
close colleague that the grilling had been "worse than
his PhD interview".

The prime minister got a noisy reception as he arrived
to give evidence. A crowd of up to 100 anti-war
protesters - more than five times the number who
turned up for the defence secretary yesterday - were
demonstrating outside the royal courts of justice in
London. The crowd screamed abuse as the Mr Blair's
Range Rover swept into the high court complex.

They called for him to resign and held up posters of
poodles and signs saying "B.LIAR".

Others held up giant playing cards like those used by
the US forces to depict members of Saddam's regime.
They showed Mr Blair as the ace of clubs, saying:
"Tony Blair, aka Bomber Blair, British Prime
Minister."

Security was tight for Mr Blair's appearance. A police
helicopter circled overhead and marksmen could be seen
on the balconies and rooftops of the high court.

Mr Davies will take the stand after the prime
minister, followed by the former Panorama reporter and
close friend of Dr Kelly, Tom Mangold.

It is only the second time that a British prime
minister has given evidence to a judicial inquiry,
John Major appeared before the Scott arms-to-Iraq
inquiry.

Mr Blair is understood to want to avoid appearing
shifty and evasive in front of Lord Hutton, as many
believe Mr Hoon did, it has been reported that he is
prepared to take responsibility for the actions of his
government.

The Conservatives' defence spokesman, Bernard Jenkin,
said of Mr Blair's appearance: "The prime minister
must cast aside the culture of spin and deceit at the
heart of government and come clean about the events
and individuals responsible for the naming of Dr
Kelly.

"The country demands that the prime minister explains
who authorised the release of Dr Kelly's name and why
they did so."

Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrats' foreign
affairs spokesman, said: "There remain some serious
questions that the prime minister must answer.

"What was his involvement in the strategy to release
Dr Kelly's name to the press? Did he approve the MoD's
naming strategy? If so, why did he want Dr Kelly's
name made public?"

However, the home secretary, David Blunkett, has
predicted that the Hutton inquiry will "vindicate" the
government.

"It was the prime minister who set up the inquiry and
he did so precisely to get to the truth."

He added: "I think the Hutton inquiry will have a
beneficial effect because I think it will clear the
air.

"Although people are sick and tired of day-to-day
wall-to-wall coverage I think Lord Hutton will find in
a way that people can have confidence again in the
institution of this country."

 Special reports
Special report: the Hutton inquiry
Full coverage: the media and Hutton
Full coverage: politics and David Kelly

 Resources
Hutton inquiry: key players
Hutton inquiry: key documents

 At a glance
27.08.2003: Timeline: dossier affair - updated daily
In summary: day 10 | Day 9 | Day 8 | Day 7 | Day 6 |
Day 5 | Day 4 | Day 3 | Day 2 | Day 1
 Official site



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