Hutton Inquiry

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The Hutton Inquiry was a British judicial inquiry chaired by Lord Hutton of Bresagh that investigated the death of government weapons expert Dr. David Kelly. The inquiry opened in August 2003 and reported on January 28, 2004. The report concluded that Kelly took his own life. It also concluded that the BBC's allegations that the government had "sexed up" the September Dossier - a report into Iraq's weapons of mass destruction - were false. This prompted the resignation of BBC chairman Gavyn Davies and the Director General Greg Dyke

The official title of the inquiry was Investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr David Kelly. Its terms of reference were to "urgently [...] conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr Kelly".

Lord Hutton retired as a Law Lord following the report's publication.

Contents

Background

Dr. Kelly had been the source for reports made by three BBC journalists that the Government, particularly the Prime Minister's press office, had embellishing the dossier with unjustified allegations about Iraq's military capabilities. These reports were reported by Andrew Gilligan on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on May 29 2003 and BBC Two's Newsnight on June 2. The Government angrily denounced the reports and accused the corporation of poor journalism. In subsequent weeks the corporation stood by the report, saying that it had a reliable source. Following intense media speculation Kelly was finally named in the press as the source for Gilligan's story on July 9. Kelly committed suicide in a field close to his home on July 17. An inquiry was announced by the British government the following day. The inquiry was to investigate whether the Government had indeed "sexed-up" the report or, if not, uncover why it had been claimed that it did.

The inquiry

The inquiry opened on August 1. Hearings began on August 11. The first phase of the inquiry closed on the 4th September. A second session of witness-calling began on Monday 15th September, where some witnesses from the first session, such as Andrew Gilligan, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, BBC chairman Gavyn Davies and out-going Downing Street communications impresario Alistair Campbell were recalled for further questions arising from the first phase and some witnesses were called for the first time. The taking of evidence closed on Wednesday 24th September. The inquiry heard evidence on 22 days, lasting 110 hours, from 74 witnesses. Examination and cross-examination came from four QCs, representing the Government, the BBC, the Kelly family and Andrew Gilligan.

The report

Hutton initially announced that he expected to be able to deliver his report in late November or early December. The report was eventually published on January 28, 2004. The main conclusions were :

  • Kelly took his own life
  • There was "no underhand [government] strategy" to name him as the source for the BBC's accusations.
  • Gilligan's original accusation was "unfounded" and the BBC's editorial and management processes were "defective"
  • The dossier had not been "sexed up", but in line with available intelligence, although the Joint Intelligence Committee may have been "subconciously influenced" by the government.
  • The Ministry of Defence was at fault for not informing Kelly of their strategy that would involve naming him

The report exonerated the Government much more completely than had been expected by many observers prior to its publication. It specifically criticised the chain of management that caused the BBC to defend its story. BBC Director of News Richard Sambrook merely asked Andrew Gilligan whether his story was accurate, rather than check Gilligan's records more thoroughly. When Gilligan replied "Yes", Sambrook passed this on to Greg Dyke and so on to Gavyn Davies. Davies told the BBC board of governors that he was happy with the story and told the Prime Minister that a satisfactory internal inquiry had taken place. It was because of this point that Davies resigned. Reporters from rival news organisation ITN described the day of publication as "one of the worst in the BBC's history". Greg Dyke resigned the day after the publication of the report, following a meeting of BBC Governors.

Tony Blair, who had been repeatedly under fire for the "sexing-up" allegations, was gleeful in the House of Commons debate following his exoneration. He demanded an apology from Michael Howard, Leader of the Opposition who had been leading the chorus of disapproval against the Government. Howard side-stepped the request for an apology.

Leaking of the report prior to publication

The report was leaked by an unknown party to The Sun newspaper the night before the official publication date. The Sun and consequently most other newspapers in their later editions ran with the leaked version of the report. Delivered by an unnamed source over the telephone to Sun Political Editor Trevor Kavanagh, the leaked version accurately described the reports' main findings. All sides involved in the Inquiry denounced the leak. Lord Hutton said that he was considering legal action against the newspaper and its source.

Media reaction to the report

The report was so uncritical of the Government that several national newspapers accused Hutton of participating in an "establishment whitewash". The right-wing Daily Mail wrote in its editorial "We're faced with the wretched spectacle of the BBC chairman resigning while Alastair Campbell crows from the summit of his dunghill. Does this verdict, my lord, serve the real interest of truth?". The Independent included a large empty white space on its front page with the words "whitewash?" underneath it. The Daily Express headline read "Hutton's whitewash leaves questions unanswered" - referring to the fact that an investigation into Britain's reasons for joining the war in Iraq was beyond the scope of the inquiry. None of the newspapers presented evidence of a cover-up. Other newspapers such as The Times, The Sun (both owned by Rupert Murdoch and notoriously critical of the BBC) and The Daily Telegraph concentrated on the behaviour of the BBC criticised in the report and called for Greg Dyke to resign, as he did later that day.

External links


References

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