Hoon admits to errors over Kelly affair
Defence secretary Geoff Hoon has admitted he made mistakes in his treatment of MoD scientist Dr David Kelly.
Mr Hoon told The Daily Telegraph in an interview that he had realised he might have to resign over Dr Kelly’s death and added, “It has toughened me up”.
Dr Kelly committed suicide after he was outed as the Ministry of Defence source quoted in a report by BBC defence correspondent Andrew Gilligan, in which he accused the government of ‘sexing up’ a dossier on Iraqi arms.
The Hutton inquiry cleared the Government of direct blame for Kelly’s death, but Mr Hoon said the MoD should have kept the scientist better informed about the prospect of his name being released to the media.
He said: “I accept that we should have done more to tell David Kelly that his name was to be confirmed.
“I asked my private office to ensure that he was comfortable with what was happening. That was not done and I regret that was not done.”
The defence secretary criticised newspapers who accused him of lying or trying to conceal his role in the affair. Mr Hoon gave extensive evidence to the Hutton Inquiry into Dr Kelly’s death last year.
Mr Hoon also stated in the interview that he was ‘not particularly’ interested in moving to Brussels to become a European Union commissioner. Some reports have suggested that the Cabinet minister would be moved to Brussels in a bid to put the scandal caused by Dr Kelly’s death to rest.
“I am perfectly happy being here and being in the government. I certainly would not want to exchange (a Commission job) for being a Cabinet minister,” Mr Hoon insisted.
