Blair must apologise for smear, say Tories

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair must apologise for the attempt to smear Iraq mole Dr David Kelly, Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said on the eve of the Hutton Inquiry.

Mr Blair’s official spokesman Tom Kelly has said sorry for suggesting the deceased weapons expert was a Walter Mitty fantasist. Now Mr Duncan Smith has broken his silence on the affair to demand Mr Blair follows suit.

Details of Mr Kelly’s private briefing to journalists came just before Dr Kelly’s funeral on Wednesday.

They followed Mr Blair’s call for respect and restraint ahead of Lord Hutton’s inquiry into his death.

Mr Duncan Smith said: “Even while the government was trying to show remorse at the tragic death of Dr Kelly, this last week behind the scenes we witnessed more of this government’s black arts. The attempt by Tom Kelly, the prime minister’s official spokesman, to cheapen the record of Dr Kelly off the record, even before his funeral took place, was appalling.

“We should not simply allow it to be dismissed as an unauthorised mistake. It is what 10 Downing Street has been doing for far too long,” he said.

“Malicious briefings are part of their culture and Tom Kelly was only presenting the agreed counter-attack briefing from No 10,” he said.

Dr Kelly slashed his wrist after being identified as the main source for a highly contentious BBC report in May claiming Blair’s staff exaggerated intelligence data on Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction ahead of the US-led war.

Blair is considered very unlikely to lose his job immediately. However, one of his most trusted ministers might not be so lucky.

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon was being lined up as the government’s fall guy for allegedly authorising the identification of Kelly as the source for the BBC story, the Sunday Express said.

“He (Hoon) is going to be hung out to dry in the hope that his resignation will get Tony Blair off the hook,” an unnamed government source was quoted as saying.

The Hutton inquiry looks set to be a difficult and damaging affair for both the BBC and Downing Street.

Journalist Andrew Gilligan, who made the accusation that started the ferocious war between them, will be among those giving evidence at the high court in London this week.

Other BBC witnesses will include Newsnight science correspondent Susan Watts, reporter Gavin Hewitt and director of news Richard Sambrook.

Two conversations with Dr David Kelly tape-recorded by Ms Watts will reveal that the government weapons expert did accuse Downing Street of misrepresenting his intelligence on Iraq, according to BBC sources.