Hoon insists British government did nothing wrong

Geoff Hoon has insisted the UK government had done nothing wrong in its handling of weapons expert Dr David Kelly.

Under intense cross-examination by the Kelly family's lawyer the UK Defence Secretary repeatedly denied leaking Dr Kelly's name.

But he confirmed that he was aware of the UK Ministry of Defence decision to authorise press officers to confirm Dr Kelly's name if it was put to them by journalists.

Re-appearing before the Hutton inquiry, set up to investigate the circumstance surrounding Dr Kelly's death, Mr Hoon was cross-examined by Jeremy Gompertz QC, for the scientist's family.

During a series of robust exchanges with the lawyer, Mr Hoon defended the decision to confirm Dr Kelly's name.

Mr Gompertz referred Mr Hoon to the text of a TV interview he conducted with Peter Sissons after Dr Kelly died.

In the interview, Mr Hoon said the evidence would show that the MoD had "followed very carefully" established procedures and that the department had "protected" Dr Kelly's anonymity.

Mr Gompertz referred Mr Hoon to his letter to BBC chairman Mr Davies, in which he named Dr Kelly as the possibly source for Mr Gilligan's story.

The lawyer said: "Was that protecting Dr Kelly's anonymity?"

Mr Hoon replied: "I think writing a letter in confidence to the chairman of the BBC, having taken some trouble to ensure that it was only seen by Mr Davies, was protecting his anonymity, yes."