Blair apparently vindicated by Hutton report

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2004-01-28 10:14am

http://www.guardian.co.uk/hutton/0,1382 ... 16,00.html

Key points
1.55pm: Kelly 'took his own life'
· No 'underhand strategy' to reveal Kelly's name
· There was nothing dramatic in Kevin Tebbit's evidence that Blair chaired the meeting that agreed to confirm Kelly's name, or any inconsistency in their evidence
· Gilligan wrong to say government knew its 45-minute claim was unfounded
· The desire of the PM to have a strong dossier may have subconsciously influenced John Scarlett and the Joint Intelligence Committee to produce a strongly worded document
· JIC's assessment was in line with available intelligence
· BBC editorial and management system was 'defective' - governors also criticised

On Tony Blair
· No 'dishonourable, duplicitous, underhand strategy' by the prime minister
· There was nothing dramatic in Kevin Tebbit's evidence that Blair chaired the meeting that agreed to confirm Kelly's name, or any inconsistency in their evidence
· The desire of the PM to have a strong dossier may have subconsciously influenced John Scarlett and the Joint Intelligence Committee to produce a strongly worded document

On Dr David Kelly
· Kelly 'took his own life'
· Cause of death were self-inflicted wounds to left wrist and Co-proxamol painkilling tablets and clinically silent coronary artery disease. No sign of a struggle
· 'No one was at fault for not contemplating that Dr Kelly would take his own life'
· Kelly was highly regarded as weapons inspector and it 'appeared' he was considered for knighthood
· Kelly knew his name would come out, says Hutton
· Kelly was not suffering from mental illness at time he took his life
· Kelly 'did not realise the gravity of the situation he would create by discussing intelligence matters with Andrew Gilligan'
· Kelly 'not an easy man to help'

On the BBC
· BBC editorial system was 'defective'
· BBC management failed to appreciate that Gilligan's notes did not support the most serious of his allegations
· The BBC governors should have recognised the desire to protect its independence was not incompatible with investigating Mr Campbell's complaints, no matter what their tone
· The BBC governors should have investigated further the differences between Gilligan's notes and his report, and that should have led them to question whether it was in the public interest to broadcast his report relying only on his notes

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-01-28 10:33am

Forgot about that.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2004-01-28 12:35pm

It seems that Blair is still going to be Prime Minister. That guy has a crisis a week, but he almost always come out looking the better for it.

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2004-01-28 05:31pm

BBC chairman has resigned.

Here's the full text of the Hutton Inquiry
http://www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk/co ... ulings.htm

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-01-28 06:08pm

Fucking expected this too. Gov't gets a slap on the wrist (Blair seemingly immune) and the BBC gets it in the neck (not that the parties involved didn't need that).

RadiO · Post by **RadiO** » 2004-01-28 09:33pm

How convenient it was that - of all the honest mistakes a government trying to sway a sceptical public into supporting a war against a WMD-armed tyrant - that they should miss out from the "45 Minute" claim the qualification that it applied to battlefield weapons only.
Either the entire Government are a pack of fools, or they pulled a fast one. Which is more likely?

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2004-01-29 01:40pm

the director general Greg Dyke has now resigned because of the goverments foul up

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2004-01-29 01:47pm

Well shit, half the top brass at the BBC are ducking out of the business thanks to this one report fault.

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2004-01-29 04:25pm

I wonder what the public reaction will be to all this, pro-beeb or pro-government, I mean, governments come and go, but the BBC is a note of constancy (yes, you could say that about ITV and channel 4, but the Beeb has history behind it), what the media gist from the papers?

TheDarkling · Post by **TheDarkling** » 2004-01-29 04:33pm

The BBC made errors, those errors should be fixed but because Hutton came down so hard on the BBC heads had to roll.

The government on the other hand didn't do anything wrong and was justified in taking issue with the "sexed up" accusation (since it couldn't be proven even if it was true), people who are upset with the report are simply furious that the report doesn't agree with their own preconceived notions of what occurred.

FBHthelizardmage · Post by **FBHthelizardmage** » 2004-02-01 10:04am

There seems interesting parallel in these events.

On one side, the BBC didn't check its facts, took too much on faith and thus caused damage to the reputations of some middle age men in government.

On the other, the Government didn't check its facts, took to much on faith and thus took us into a war that killed not both British service people, and Iraqi civilians.

It’s amazing isn't it, that into the first we have a public enquiry, and a round of resignations, and into the second, well... Nothing of the sort.

Sharp-kun · Post by **Sharp-kun** » 2004-02-02 12:12pm

FBHthelizardmage wrote: On the other, the Government didn't check its facts, took to much on faith and thus took us into a war that killed not both British service people, and Iraqi civilians.

It’s amazing isn't it, that into the first we have a public enquiry, and a round of resignations, and into the second, well... Nothing of the sort.

Did the government have any reason to doubt the inteligence it was given though?

The BBC could have ended the whole thing right at the start, had they simply checked Gilligan's notes.

FBHthelizardmage · Post by **FBHthelizardmage** » 2004-02-02 01:17pm

Sharp-kun wrote:on to doubt the inteligence it was given though?

The BBC could have ended the whole thing right at the start, had they simply checked Gilligan's notes.

And several bits of government intelligence could have been disproved by a simple google search. And in fact were once they were given to the IAEA.

Frankly the entire unfortunate business with Doctor Kelly is irrelevant. The real issue, is how did the intelligence community screw up this bady?