Iraqgate UK: Geoff Hoon behind unmasking David Kelly?

No 10 overruled defence chiefs in leaking Kelly's name to Press

Independent -22 July 2003

By Kim Sengupta and Andrew Grice

Downing Street overruled senior Ministry of Defence officials who wanted to protect the identity of David Kelly and prevent him appearing before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, according to Whitehall sources.

Geoff Hoon, the Secretary of State for Defence, is expected to be questioned by the judicial inquiry into Dr Kelly's death over whether he sided with Downing Street on the unmasking of the government scientist. Dr Kelly is understood to have been given guarantees from the MoD that his identity would remain secret.

The revelation calls into question Downing Street's assertion that the MoD took the lead in dealing with Dr Kelly after he admitted he had met Andrew Gilligan, the BBC journalist who claimed No 10 had "sexed up" a dossier on Iraqi weapons.

Downing Street conceded yesterday that it had been consulted by the MoD over the handling of the Kelly affair.

An important issue for Lord Hutton's inquiry will be whether Downing Street was determined to disclose Dr Kelly's identity to help it in its dispute with the BBC over Mr Gilligan's claim.

A senior Whitehall official said: "There was a lot of concern about the way things were going. There was a feeling at a very high level that we must do our utmost to protect the man.

"Some of us felt that David Kelly's identity should not be disclosed at all. However, the view from No 10 was that this was untenable; there were enough clues for the media to track him down."

The officials, including one of the highest-ranking civil servants in the MoD, believed the matter could be dealt with< internally without the weapons expert being identified. Among those involved in the MoD meetings were Mr Hoon; Sir Kevin Tebbit, the permanent secretary; Pam Teare, the director of news, and Richard Hatfield, the personnel director.

There were also regular telephone calls from Downing Street ­ including, it is claimed, from Alastair Campbell. MoD sources confirmed that No 10 demanded, and was told, Dr Kelly's name. Asked yesterday if Mr Campbell was consulted on the release of Dr Kelly's name, Tony Blair's official spokesman said: "We were consulted, and the MoD was the lead department and remained the lead department."

The officials who expressed doubts were told that Downing Street had agreed Dr Kelly's identity could be confirmed by the MoD press office if the media put his name to them. But they are concerned that Dr Kelly's name was deliberately fed to journalists friendly to No 10, who then rang Ms Teare for confirmation.

Sources said the MoD officials stressed that Dr Kelly had been guaranteed anonymity in return for his co-operation. They pointed out that government lawyers had concluded his meeting with Mr Gilligan did not warrant prosecution under the Official Secrets Act or dismissal. The consensus was that the likely penalty would be no more than a verbal warning ­ which Dr Kelly was given. Under those circumstances, the MoD officials argued that it would be unfair to name him, or force him to appear before the Foreign Affairs Committee.

The counter-argument was that, because of Dr Kelly's association with a number of journalists, it was only a matter of time before his identity became known. It was also pointed out that keeping him away from the committee would leave the MoD open to charges of a cover-up.

Mr Blair was criticised yesterday after he limited the scope of the inquiry into the death of Dr Kelly so it could not address the case for war or the Government's use of intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Lord Hutton, the law lord who will lead the inquiry, sought to show his independence by saying he would decide the matters he would investigate.

Asked if he would support Lord Hutton if he tried to broaden the scope of the inquiry, Mr Blair replied: "I think it's important that he does what we've asked him to do. I don't think it would be sensible to do any more."