Speculation over Iraq Dossier grows
Two Sunday newspapers have questioned the facts around the ‘Dodgy Dossier’ once again.
According to The Independent on Sunday, intelligence officers are holding a portfolio of information which proves that they came under immense pressure for evidence to use against Iraq in the run-up to the conflict.
The paper then reports that this concerned the security services so much that they kept detailed records of communications with the Prime Minister’s staff.
Whilst the Independent reports this latest development, The Sunday Telegraph has reported that Alastair Campbell has reassured the intelligence services that the Government would take ‘far greater care’ in uses of their material following the fiasco which occurred over Iraq.
According to the Telegraph, Campbell wrote a letter to the chief of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, in which he told Sir Dearlove that the Government would be more careful in the future of the impact on MI6’s reputation.
However, the Government has played down this latest development: ‘Like many other stories on weapons of mass destruction, this one is totally overblown. What happened in the wake of the controversy surrounding the second dossier was that Alastair Campbell spoke to those who had been responsible for its production to demand tighter procedures.’
‘He also assured the agencies that far greater care would be taken in dealing with anything that might impact on their reputation or their work,’ explained the spokesman.
However, this was not good enough for the Conservatives, who repeated their calls for a full inquiry.
‘We don’t need an apology from Alastair Campbell – what we need is an independent inquiry into what was going on in Number 10 over the presentation of intelligence reports.’
