Dr Kelly’s widow protested to Blair about smearing of husband
Janice Kelly’s solicitor demanded to know who was behind reports that the scientist was a “Walter Mitty” fantasist.
His letter to government lawyers is among thousands of pages of evidence published last night by the inquiry into Dr Kelly’s death.
It brings fresh embarrassment for the Prime Minister, whose official spokesman Tom Kelly eventually admitted making the remark.
Mr Kelly insisted it did not represent his or No 10’s view of the weapons expert and said sorry for intruding on the family’s grief.
The solicitor’s letter complains that an unnamed official had been attacking the late scientist despite Mr Blair’s call for “restraint”.
“If information of this nature is being disseminated, either formally or informally, I should like to know on whose authority it is being done,” it says.
It also points out such briefing by “various arms of the Government” could influence Lord Hutton’s inquiry.
The inquiry may hear from Mrs Kelly first hand when friends and relatives of the former weapons inspector testify next week.
However, Mr Blair, who spent the weekend being briefed by Government lawyers before his appearance at the Inquiry, faces tough questions over how Dr Kelly was outed as the Iraq dossier mole when he gives evidence on Thursday.
The unprecedented release of the vast quantity of documents submitted to the inquiry came on Saturday, and included many items that otherwise may not have been seen by the public for 30 years.
The way Dr Kelly, a civil servant, was thrust into the public eye has become a key issue in the investigation.
He was named as the source for BBC reports that intelligence was “sexed up” after admitting meeting journalist Andrew Gilligan.
The PM’s intimate involvement in the decision to announce that a possible source for the claims had come forward is documented in the inquiry’s evidence released last night.
Mr Blair was warned during discussions at No 10 that naming Dr Kelly might place him under “wider pressure”.
His aides helped draft the July 8 Ministry of Defence announcement that a possible source had come forward.
And No 10 media chief Alastair Campbell told one journalist hunting the source he was on the wrong track.
Mr Blair was also warned that former weapons inspector Dr Kelly would need “careful briefing” so as not to reveal doubts on government claims if his name came out.
Left-wing Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn said yesterday that the affair had become the Prime Minister’s “Watergate”.
“The longer this inquiry goes on, the more e-mails appear, the more documents appear, the more damning evidence appears,” Mr Corbyn said.
“It seems to be a parallel to the Watergate investigation in the United States 30 years ago when the president was finally cornered because he had actually been involved in the whole thing from the very beginning.
“Now I suspect Downing Street has been involved from the very beginning.”
Shadow defence secretary Bernard Jenkin said: “What we are looking for from Lord Hutton eventually, is a series of recommendations that will put the running of the British government onto a proper and reliable footing.”
Dr Kelly told a trusted contact he was “shocked” to be named because Ministry of Defence officials told him his meeting with BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan would be kept confidential.
Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, who also appears before the inquiry this week, has borne the brunt of criticism for the emergence of Dr Kelly’s name.
Journalists were able to draw up a list of suspects from clues dropped by Government officials. Mr Hoon’s department took the controversial step of rejecting incorrect names put to them until Dr Kelly’s was reached.
However, Mr Blair was involved in a series of talks about how to deal with Dr Kelly’s admission that he met Gilligan on July 7 and 8.
A Downing Street account of the “running” meetings shows Mr Blair’s chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, media chief Alastair Campbell and spokesman Godric Smith were involved in drafting a press statement for use if Dr Kelly was named.
The final statement announcing a source had come forward was also drafted in No 10, the minutes show.
John Scarlett, chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, agreed with the strategy but added: “If Dr K name becomes public will Government be criticised for putting him under ‘wider pressure’?”
Mr Scarlett and Kevin Tebbit warned that the scientist’s doubts about government claims could become public if he was named.
Mr Scarlett urged coaching for the weapons’ expert ahead of his appearance before the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.
In an e-mail to Mr Blair’s aides on July 10 he said: “I am sure that he does need careful briefing in advance, especially for the public session with the FAC.”
Mr Blair also faces embarrassment over the help given to Philip Webster, political editor of The Times, as he hunted the source.
On July 8, Mr Webster e-mailed Mr Campbell saying: “hd a tip tt the source is a foreign office official (female) who is now in south africa, having either left the fco or been moved thr for a diplomatic appointment. do you recognise tt?”
Mr Campbell replied ‘Wrong’ and received another message from the journalist saying “tks”.
Mr Jenkin said: “If the Government is in real trouble they are going to look for somebody to draw the fire off of the Prime Minister.
“Already there have been briefings in the press that Geoff Hoon is prepared to fall on his sword and take the blame.
“But that would be to miss the point and I don’t think Lord Hutton is going to miss the point.
“It is not down to one individual or two individuals, Geoff Hoon or Alastair Campbell.
“It is down to the system of Government that is in place.”
Mr Jenkin added: “What we are looking for ... from Lord Hutton, eventually is a series of recommendation that will put the running of the British government onto a proper and reliable footing.”
