Hutton inquiry and Butler review - news archive

"The Butler report said more about the shortcomings of Britain's official inquiries than it did about Tony Blair's integrity, writes Alistair Alexander from London"

"I had a strange experience with the Butler report. I changed my mind. In my capacity as secretary of the local Stop the War Coalition I was interviewed by GWR radio within an hour of the report being published, and based upon the quick summary posted on the BBC web page I concluded that it was a whitewash. It said that mistakes were made, and the procedures failed, but no individual was to blame and the Prime Minister acted in good faith. This is pretty much the commentary of the report from the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror. However, because I was also being interviewed by the BBC the next morning I decided to read the report in full. I now believe it is a most remarkable document that cannot be entirely taken at face value." http://www.butlerreview.org.uk/report

"The quality of pre-war intelligence will be assessed in a British report published today. The Butler Report will consider what intelligence was available to the UK government about weapons of mass destruction and the accuracy of that intelligence. Last week, US senators published a scathing report about the CIA's assessment of the Iraqi weapons programme. But President George Bush said that although no weapons were found, the US were right to go into Iraq. Do you think the agencies failed to deliver quality intelligence? How should intelligence be gathered and used in future? Send us your views."

"Intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in the run–up to war was "seriously flawed" and "open to doubt" Lord Butler's inquiry declared today. The ex–Cabinet Secretary's 200–page report said Prime Minister Tony Blair's September 2002 dossier should not have included its controversial claim that Saddam Hussein could deploy WMD within 45 minutes." See also the key findings of the report at http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.js...

"Lord Butler has shocked Downing Street by reopening the investigation into whether Tony Blair deliberately misled Britain over the claim that Saddam Hussein could use weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes. The Butler inquiry was expected to produce another cover-up, limiting its investigation into the flawed intelligence which led Mr Blair to claim that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. But The Independent has learnt that the Butler inquiry is now delving into highly damaging allegations of a "spinning operation" by Number 10 to regional newspapers on the day the report on the 45-minute claim was published."

"Lord Hutton yesterday said Tony Blair had not been summoned back for cross-examination by his inquiry because it would have been inappropriate for him to face the resulting "glaring headlines". Lord Hutton said: "If I had brought the Prime Minister back to be cross-examined, I would have considered it as simply playing to the gallery - 'Here is the man who is not afraid to bring back the Prime Minister'. I did not think it was appropriate to do that." He added: "Various allegations would have been put to the Prime Minister with glaring headlines about them. I did not think it was appropriate to do that." "

"Lord Hutton is due to make his first public comments since he announced the findings of his inquiry into the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly. The retired judge is being questioned by a committee of MPs as part of their investigation into public inquiries. The questioning is likely to focus on the implications of the report for how governments are run, the way a mass of Whitehall documents was published on the internet and whether judges are the right figures to head up such inquiries. He may also be asked about progress in the police inquiry into how parts of his report were leaked to the Sun newspaper."

"Lord Hutton is to appear at the public administration select committee this week to defend his report on Dr Kelly's death. Here is some important material that will not be covered. On 16 March 2004, Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner announced that he would not reopen the inquest into scientist David Kelly's death. The coroner further attempted to stave off objections by anticipating that there would be differences of expert opinion even with a full inquest, and by expressing the wish that the widow and family be allowed to grieve in peace. He failed to note, however, that many of those concerns are not trivial differences of opinion but sound observations of incomplete and inconclusive evidence. Suspicion that the body was moved, or that Dr. Kelly was physically unable to swallow pills, or that a minimal amount of blood was present at the scene, casts serious doubt on a finding of suicide."

"Lord Hutton's inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly cost taxpayers more than £2.5m, it has been announced. The inquiry spent £1.68m itself and the remaining money was spent by government departments involved in the inquiry on hiring lawyers and other expenses. External advice, including lawyers' fees and research costs, took up £990,303 of the inquiry's own bill. Among the other major costs for the inquiry itself was the £146,000 spent on staffing the inquiry and the £155,000 in profession fees such as audio/video links in the inquiry courtrooms at the Royal Courts of Justice."

"The committee of MPs who grilled Dr David Kelly shortly before his death are questioning the government's lack of cooperation with its Iraq inquiry. The committee members complained that while their request to question John Scarlett, chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, and look at particular papers was refused, he appeared before Hutton and the documents were later published on the internet. Labour MP Andrew Mackinlay, a committee member, said: "We're really at the crossroads - either we go into decline or select committees look for the soft options in terms of their future inquiries. "There can be no greater duty of examining the case, even if it is retrospectively, whether or not the government exaggerated the case presented to Parliament for people going to war. FAC chairman Donald Anderson said his committee "meant business" to sort this out. He said it was clear national security had not been put at risk by people appearing before the Hutton Inquiry. "

"The Oxfordshire coroner has decided not to reopen the inquest into weapons expert Dr David Kelly's death. In a brief hearing in Oxford, he said the Kelly family accepted Lord Hutton's verdict Dr Kelly committed suicide. However their barrister said they were "disappointed" that Lord Hutton "did not fully" examine how his treatment by the Ministry of Defence affected him. "

"The Conservative party has announced it is withdrawing its support from the Butler Inquiry into the intelligence leading up to the war in Iraq. The party leader, Michael Howard, has said Lord Butler had chosen to examine the evidence in an unacceptably restricted fashion. The Liberal Democrats had refused to take part from the beginning, saying the terms of reference were too narrow. It comes amidst the claims by former Cabinet Minister Clare Short that British spies had been involved in bugging UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. What's your view on the case for the Iraq war? Are the Conservative Party right to pull out of the Butler Inquiry? Send us your comments. "

"The committee probing intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction has vowed to continue its inquiry - despite both opposition parties boycotting it. Conservative leader Michael Howard withdrew Tory support, saying inquiry chief Lord Butler's view of its remit was "unacceptably restrictive". Shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram rejected charges of opportunism. He said the way Lord Butler had interpreted his terms of reference did not reflect the prime minister's assurances that the inquiry would examine the way people used intelligence. "

"With the release of his report in January, Lord Brian Hutton pronounced the death of scientist David Kelly a suicide. But the evidence given at the inquiry does not substantiate the finding. It is not yet known exactly how he died."

"IN INFORMATION WITHHELD BY THE BRITISH PRESS, shocking new details about the death of Dr David Kelly emerged today exclusively on the Alex Jones radio show. Michael Shrimpton, a UK national security lawyer who was a guest on the show, revealed that sources within MI5 and MI6 are `furious' that Kelly was murdered. "

"Want to give evidence to the Butler inquiry into 'WMD' non-intelligence? Go to the evidence form at http://www.butlerreview.org.uk/contact/ (this page is on the official website for the 'inquiry') or email secretary@butlerreview.org.uk. They're waiting to hear from you! When you're done, there's a satirical version of the official site at http://www.butlerreview.org . It's the Bottler Inquiry! "

Poster: 'New Paint - Hutton Whitewash'

"Our criticism of the Hutton report is that its verdict of "suicide" is an inappropriate finding. To bleed to death from a transected artery goes against classical medical teaching, which is that a transected artery retracts, narrows, clots and stops bleeding within minutes. Even if a person continues to bleed, the body compensates for the loss of blood through vasoconstriction (closing down of non-essential arteries). This allows a partially exsanguinated individual to live for many hours, even days."

A great cloud hangs over public broadcasting in Britain since Lord Hutton's trial and sentencing of the BBC. Yet for the journalist at the centre of the fuss, Andrew Gilligan, it's been a great week, as more evidence emerged that his story was essentially correct.

"Although the Hutton Report stated, paragraph 225: 'In his evidence on 22 September [2003] when cross-examined by Mr Caldecott, Mr Hoon said: Q. Are you aware that on 25th September a number of newspapers had banner headlines suggesting that [weapons deployable within 45 minutes] related to strategic missiles or bombs? A. I can recall, yes.'

Mr Hoon appears to have contradicted his evidence to the Hutton Inquiry in his Today programme interview: Q: When the Sun on 25th September [2002] said, 'British servicemen and tourists in Cyprus could be annihilated by germ-warfare missiles' that wasn't creating [a misleading] impression, was it? A: I did not see that particular publication until very recently on a Panorama programme. "

"Hundreds of BBC workers are expected to protest against political "pressure and interference" in the wake of the Hutton report, on Thursday lunchtime. About 80 people have taken part in protest outside the BBC in Glasgow with futher demonstrations due to take place. In an e-mail circulated to staff, the NUJ urged workers to "stand up for independence and the integrity of BBC programmes". It called for freedom from government interference, transparency in the selection of a new director-general and chairman and demanded there should be no cuts in BBC licence fee funding. "

"The honourable Lord Hutton retires this week after clearing the Government of wrongdoing in the unfortunate death of outspoken weapons expert David Kelly and dealing a blow to the left wing lunacy of the BBC. However this is far from the first time he has achieved such a commendable feat. "

"Dr Nicholas Hunt, the forensic pathologist at the Hutton inquiry, concluded that Dr Kelly bled to death from a self-inflicted wound to his left wrist. We view this as highly improbable. Arteries in the wrist are of mathstick thickness and severing them does not lead to life-threatening blood loss. Dr Hunt stated that the only artery that had been cut the ulnar artery had been completely transected. Complete transection causes the artery to quickly retract and close down, and this promotes clotting of the blood."

"Lord Hutton has finally published his long-awaited report into the Emperor's New Clothes. Speculation in the media that the Emperor has been walking around stark naked for the past few months has finally been put to rest. Indeed Lord Hutton goes on to stress that it is perfectly obvious for all to see that the Emperor's New Clothes are of excellent workmanship, that they have been cut to fit the Emperor perfectly and that they are made of the very finest materials - including top quality satin with rare silk linings and intricate lace cuffs. Singled out for particular criticism in the report is a small child who claimed that he could see the Emperor as naked as the day that he was born. Lord Hutton states that the child had no factual evidence for making this statement, and that the claim amounted to a "very grave" attack upon the credibility and dignity of the Emperor and, indeed, upon all his ministers of state and advisers. Reaction to Lord Hutton's report has been divided. The Emperor's staff are said to be ecstatic, and the Emperor himself has stated that "the lie that I was walking around without any clothes on has now been proved to be the real lie". "

"Below is a revised text of a leaflet previously posted under 'WHAT HUTTON WON'T TELL YOU'. This short critique has been put together by Bristol-Stop-The-War-Coalition. Please do reprint and resdistribute these leaflets.

The Hutton report was given a very narrow brief, concerning the facts surrounding the death of Dr David Kelly. The major questions about the legality and morality of the war on Iraq have been ignored. ... Iraqi resistance to the occupation increases by the day. The USA government is determined to deny Iraqis democratic elections. The opposition to the occupation in Britain and throughout the world will continue."

"Greg Dyke has said Lord Hutton was "quite clearly wrong" on some points of law in his report. The departing BBC director general told GMTV that Alastair Campbell had been "ungracious" in the aftermath of the report. Questioning "remarkable contradictions" between evidence given by Mr Campbell, the former Downing Street director of communications, to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and to Lord Hutton, Mr Dyke said: "Alastair and others have been remarkably ungracious." Mr Dyke also questioned Lord Hutton's conclusion that the MoD had properly cared for Dr Kelly, insisting: "If that's showing a duty of care I'm glad I don't work there." An ICM poll for the Guardian newspaper suggested three times as many people now trust the BBC (31%) as the government (10%). But 49% of the 532 people surveyed said they trusted neither. "

"Need a whitewash, then Lord Hutton is your man. As an added bonus you get a gravy train for lawyers, and a media circus performing outside. The only price to pay is the loss of democracy itself. Need to look whiter than white, then Hutton's your man. If you find yourself in a hole, Hutton's your man. Maybe Saddam Hussein should give him a call. "

"Tony Blair's government is heralding the Hutton report as a victory, since it absolves it of any wrongdoing regarding the "sexing up" of intelligence about the threat posed by Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. The Hutton report was released at the same time as the former head of the Iraq Survey Group, David Kay, testified before the US Congress that there appear to be no WMD in Iraq, and that the intelligence was "all wrong". Given this, the Hutton findings have taken on an almost Alice in Wonderland aura. By focusing on a single news story broadcast by the BBC, Hutton has created a political smokescreen behind which Blair is seeking to distract the British public from the harsh reality that his government went to war based on unsustained allegations that have yet to be backed up with a single piece of substantive fact. Lord Hutton was in a position to expose this; he chose not to. It is left to the public, therefore, to carefully examine his report, looking not for what it contains but for what is missing. "

"Lord Rees-Mogg, a former BBC vice-chairman, said: "I don't have any confidence in Hutton ... I have already come to the conclusion his evidence does not support his conclusions and that it is, put quite simply, a bad bit of work." "

"An anarchist writes on the Hutton enquiry. Or, as it should be know, whitewash"

"Hutton's inquiry is theirs, but the evidence is ours. The evidence strongly suggests manipulation by the government of intelligence claims made in the prelude to the Iraq war. Andrew Gilligan's story remains true in most of its essentials. But the BBC has prostrated itself, lain supine at the government's feet, apologised and accepted the inaccuracy of those claims. Don't trust Auntie... " Followed by various comments on the role of the BBC as a non-corporate source of news.

"BBC chairman Gavyn Davies is to resign in the wake of Lord Hutton's criticisms of the corporation's reports. BBC political editor Andrew Marr said Mr Davies would tell the corporation's governors of his decision when they met at 1700 GMT. It comes after Lord Hutton said the claim in BBC reports that the government "sexed up" its dossier on Iraq's weapons was "unfounded". "

"BBC chairman Gavyn Davies is to resign following Lord Hutton's report in which he criticised the BBC and cleared the government of embellishing its Iraq weapons dossier. In his long awaited report into the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly Lord Hutton said the BBC's claim that the government inserted intelligence into its Iraq dossier knowing it was probably wrong was "unfounded". Send us your reaction to Lord Hutton's report. What will be the impact of the report? What are the implications for the government and the BBC? "

"Journalists from Britain's national press give their initial responses to the Hutton Inquiry report. "

"So Andrew Gilligan gets the blame. Shoot the messenger. What a waste of public time and money the enquiry has been. What a whitewash. It has since come to light - without any shadow of a doubt - the dossier was grossly 'sexed up' and used to dupe public and politicians to go to war. The question should now arise WHY has Hutton failed to see the blindingly obvious. And why has he still failed to declare his membership of the masons?"

"Lord Hutton is to deliver his long-awaited verdict on the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly in a few hours. His findings were due as a row grew over what appeared to be leaked details of the report in the Sun newspaper. "

"So the hutton report was a whitewash and let Blair off the hook, as most of us have come to expect from the establishment looking after its own. Don't trust the Sun, especially after Blair's faustion deal with Murdock before Blair came to power and Murdock got his media deals. "

"The BBC's team of correspondents bring you news updates, reaction and comment as they watch events unfold at the publication of the Hutton report into the death of the government scientist, Dr David Kelly. Most recent postings are at the top."

(by Tony Hillier) "An 18 line poem the peace and justice campaigner author was moved to create after attending a Holocaust Memorial in Swindon on 27 Jan - just one day before Hutton reports on death of weapons inspector Dr David Kelly"

"Main players in Lord Hutton's inquiry into the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly are hours away from finding out the judge's view of their actions. The government, BBC and Dr Kelly's family are among those getting advance copies of Lord Hutton's report at lunchtime on Tuesday. The contents will not be made public for another 24 hours. "

"A full inquest into the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly is being considered, it has emerged. Nicholas Gardiner, the coroner for Oxfordshire where Dr Kelly died, says the Hutton report, due next week, will be "crucial" to his decision. Lord Hutton's report is into the circumstances of Dr Kelly's death. It had been thought the report would make an inquest unnecessary but Mr Gardiner told BBC News Online he would "have to consider" holding one. "

"Lord Hutton's long-awaited report into the death of Dr David Kelly will be published on 28 January. The report will be published in Parliament and Lord Hutton will make a televised statement about his findings. Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesman Sir Menzies Campbell said: "Between them top-up fees and Lord Hutton's report could seal the fate of this government." But he argued the narrow circumstances around Dr Kelly's death should not divert attention from the central question of why Britain went to war in Iraq on a "false prospectus". "

"Lord Hutton, whose report into the death of weapons expert David Kelly will be published soon, is officially retiring as a Law Lord on Sunday. The 72-year-old peer had announced his intention to resign to Senior Law Lord, Lord Bingham, some months before the six-week Hutton Inquiry began. His retirement will not affect his work in writing the report inquiry. Lord Hutton's other high profile cases included those involving General Pinochet and rebel spy David Shayler. " BBCi Hutton Enquiry information: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2003/david_...

"Conservative leader Michael Howard has challenged Tony Blair to confirm he will face MPs in a full Commons debate on the Hutton report. Lord Hutton is expected to publish his report into the death of government weapons expert David Kelly this month. When it comes out, the prime minister is expected to make an immediate Commons statement and answer MPs' questions for an hour. But Mr Howard has asked Mr Blair if he will lead a full Commons debate. Number 10 said nothing was ruled in or out. "

A poem by Tony Hillier after the Hutton Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr David Kelly.

"The UK media usually dubs August the “silly season.” As normal politics winds down, and everyone goes on holiday, the news is taken over by stories of the weather and the bizarre antics of British eccentrics, while hardened hacks long for September and the return of a serious news agenda. But this August, the UK news was anything but “silly”. Instead, it has been dominated by the suicide of Dr David Kelly - a senior British weapons expert who found himself at the center of a vitriolic dispute between the government and the BBC - and the subsequent inquiry into the cause of his suicide. "

"Focus on intimate details of Kelly case is obscuring the bigger picture of Blair's war guilt, say Greens. As Tony Blair faces questioning today by the Hutton inquiry, the Green Party has urged the media and the public not to lose sight of the bigger picture - that the attack on Iraq was illegal in both conception and execution."

"THE widow of a soldier killed in Iraq claimed yesterday that his life had been "expendable". As Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon today faces the Hutton inquiry, Samantha Roberts, 32, claimed her husband would still be alive if he had been given the correct equipment and training."