Lib Dems angry at Butler Report arrangements
The Liberal Democrat leader has reacted angrily to the arrangements for the release of the Butler Report.
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) told journalists this morning that the report will be released in the same way as the Hutton Inquiry, with the Prime Minister receiving a copy of the report on Tuesday, 24 hours before publication.
Copies will be made available to the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives at 06.00 BST, with Tony Blair due to make a Commons statement later in the day. The timing for the statement is not yet confirmed, but is likely to be after Prime Minister’s Question Time.
Lord Butler will release the report at a press conference on Wednesday morning, so MPs will be able to view the report prior to the Prime Minister’s statement.
Charles Kennedy branded the arrangements as “unreasonable” and “inadequate”.
Mr Kennedy said: “As the leader of the only major party which opposed the war, I consider it unacceptable to be given a quarter of the time available to the Prime Minister to consider Lord Butler’s conclusions.”
“Lord Hutton carried out his investigations in public; but Lord Butler’s committee has met in private, so it will be even more difficult to make a fully considered response to the Prime Minister’s statement in the House of Commons.”
“A Government which had nothing to hide and had nothing to fear would be more open and transparent in its dealings with opposition leaders. This is yet another example of the casual way in which this Prime Minister treats Parliament.”
The Butler Report so far has been notable for the lack of concrete leaks on its content. The PMOS said that there is a very strong emphasis on the security of the report as it nears its publication.
Lord Hutton’s conclusions were pre-empted by The Sun obtaining a copy of the report prior to its publication.
