Hoon may face Hutton recall
Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon was at the meeting which discussed the policy of “outing” Dr David Kelly to the media, it was revealed yesterday.
Mr Hoon’s special adviser at the Ministry of Defence, Richard Taylor, told Lord Hutton’s judicial inquiry into apparent suicide of Dr Kelly that his boss was aware of the strategy, a view Mr Hoon has contested vigorously.
Mr Hoon told Hutton he was “not party to discussions” about the “naming strategy.”
Dr Kelly was exposed as the “source” of a BBC report claiming Downing Street willingly doctored an intelligence dossier to bolster the case for war against Iraq.
His death came days after a humiliating grilling before a Commons select committee.
Mr Taylor told the inquiry that a meeting took place in Mr Hoon’s office on July 9.
Peter Watkins, Mr Hoon’s private secretary, the MoD’s director of news, Pam Teare, the defence secretary and Mr Taylor discussed what they should do if the press mooted Dr Kelly’s name.
He said: “There was a discussion that morning about that approach. We explicitly talked through if a direct name was put to us it was agreed that it would be not tenable to say ‘no’ because that would be a lie.
“I would be unacceptable for the department to respond in that way.”
Critics will claim that Mr Hoon’s testimony now appears far from full and frank and some will insist that his recall before Hutton is a political necessity.
He may appear again to clarify his role when the second phase of the inquiry begins on September 15.
