Hutton urged to widen Kelly inquiry
The scope of Lord Hutton’s judicial inquiry into Dr David Kelly’s apparent suicide ought to be widened, the shadow opposition has said.
Dr Kelly was the Iraq weapons expert alleged to be the main source in the BBC story on the Government’s “sexed up” intelligence on Iraq’s capacity to launch lethal weapons.
Oliver Letwin, Shadow Home Secretary, said yesterday there was an “overwhelming case”, in view of declining public confidence, for the inquiry to consider more wide-ranging issues outside the current remit.
Mr Letwin said: “We believe there is an overwhelming case for seeking to restore public confidence by having, as well, a wide-ranging inquiry, and indeed one endowed with the full 1921 Act powers that allow a tribunal to call witnesses under oath’.
Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, issued a warning yesterday that “all hell would break loose” if the Blair administration effectively delimited Lord Hutton’s inquiry.
“Woe betide any government minister or any civil servant or any political adviser who tries to put roadblocks in his way,” he said.
“They may have got away with it to a certain extent with the foreign affairs select committee of the Commons; they are not going to get away with it where Lord Hutton is concerned.”
But Prime Minister Tony Blair speaking from China said it would not be ‘sensible’ for Lord Hutton to explore other avenues of inquiry other than the tragedy of Dr Kelly’s death.
Mr Blair said it was “important that he does what we’ve asked him to do.”
He said it was now time for the inquiry and the Lord Hutton to “get on with their work.”
And the 72-year old judge said: “The government has further stated that it will provide me with the fullest cooperation and that it expects all other authorities and parties to do the same.”
The BBC, for its part, has pledged to allow independent organisations to assess its overall impartiality in the wake of Dr Kelly’s death.
The impartiality audit aims to restore the credibility of the BBC as a worldwide news organisation.
Under the proposals, editorial policy will receive an overhaul, with BBC governors kept up to speed on issues. Regular surveys will be undertaken on the public’s view of BBC impartiality. Editorial content will be opened up to external scrutiny and external bodies will be asked to produce independent reports on major issues.
