Former British Minister: Blair should resign

Former minister tells Blair to quit

SundayTimes.za - Saturday July 19, 2003

LONDON - Glenda Jackson, a former minister in Tony Blair's government, on Saturday urged the British prime minister to resign over the death of arms expert David Kelly.

Speaking after confirmation Kelly had died after apparently slashing his own wrist, Labour lawmaker and Oscar winning actress Jackson said Blair should "bite the bullet" and accept political responsibility for the tragedy.

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Jackson said the judicial inquiry announced by Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon into his death would paralyse the government while Blair remained in office.

"We now have the judicial inquiry but I have to say it seems to me that the prime minister should really be reconsidering his position," Jackson said.

"I don't see how the government is going to be able to function adequately. This is going to be hanging over the government for the whole period of the judicial inquiry."

Kelly's suicide came days after he was grilled by a parliamentary committee over whether he was the source of a BBC report that officials working for Blair had exaggerated Iraq's weapons capacity in order to strengthen the case for going to war earlier this year.

Jackson accused Blair's office of using a battle with the BBC over the report to divert attention from the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

"Ministers are responsible for actions and the actions that were engaged in by No 10 (the prime minister's office), on my opinion, a clear political case must be answered by those who are ultimately responsible," Jackson added.

Jackson was a junior transport minister from 1997 to 1999.

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