Ministers face public grilling on Kelly death

BRITISH government ministers and BBC bosses are facing a public grilling on their treatment of Dr David Kelly, after the law lord appointed to investigate the civil servant’s death announced yesterday he would not hold his inquiry behind closed doors.

Lord Hutton asserted the independence of his inquiry with a declaration that he would decide the scope of his questions and the choice of witnesses "as I see fit within my terms of reference".

He promised to hold his investigation into the government weapons expert's apparent suicide "mostly in public" and to publish a report "as soon as possible".