Hutton Inquiry

The Hutton Inquiry was a British judicial inquiry chaired by Lord Hutton, appointed by the British government to investigate the death of a government weapons expert, Dr. David Kelly. The inquiry opened in August 2003 and reported on January 28, 2004. Its terms of reference were to "urgently conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr Kelly".

Background

Kelly had been the source for reports made by three BBC journalists that the Government, particularly the press office of Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, had knowingly embellished the dossier with misleading exaggerations of Iraq's military capabilities. These were reported by Andrew Gilligan on BBC Radio 4's The Today programme on May 29 2003, by Gavin Hewitt on the Ten O'Clock News the same day and by Susan Watts on BBC Two's Newsnight on June 2. On June 1 Gilligan repeated his allegations in an article written for the Mail on Sunday, naming government press secretary Alastair Campbell as the driving force for alteration of the dossier.

Related Topics:
Tony Blair - Prime Minister - Iraq - Andrew Gilligan - BBC Radio 4 - The Today programme - May 29 - 2003 - Gavin Hewitt - Susan Watts - BBC Two - Newsnight - June 2 - June 1 - Mail on Sunday - Alastair Campbell

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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 apparently committed suicide in a field close to his home on July 17 (although this will not be officially confirmed until a coroner's report is released). 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.

Related Topics:
July 9 - July 17

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~