The Hutton Enquiry

The Hutton Enquiry

Before the Hutton Enquiry politicians in Britain were considered to be untrustworthy individuals who would say or do anything to get a vote. Once in power they would never answer a direct question with a straight answer, and even in the face of undeniable facts they would use every tactic to avoid conceding any hint of error or wrong doing. Not quite the lowest form of life on the planet, but close.

However, since the start of the Hutton Enquiry they have taken the 'not me guv' syndrome to the extreme. At the outset Geoff Hoon, Defence Secretary and ultimately Dr Kelly's boss, denied that he had participated in any aspect of revealing the scientist's identity to the media. It was all down to number 10 - the Prime Minister's Office - it was nothing to do with him. Quietly forgetting that it was one of his Ministry's management who had given Dr Kelly an assurance that his admission about speaking to Andrew Gilligan, a BBC reporter, would not be made public. And totally dismissing from his mind that it was his Ministry who eventually issued the press statement outing Dr Kelly.

So with these doubtful words of reassurance ringing in our ears let us turn our attention to the discrete 17th century terrace, just a couple of hundred yards along Whitehall, that houses the UK Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair. When he gave testimony Prime Minister Blair sounded almost honourable, declaring that he would have quit if the allegations about the juiced up Iraq dossier - the document that he used to persuade us to go to war - had proven to be true. It sounded so good, a breath of fresh air in the mire of British politics; an oxymoron, an honest, plain speaking politician. But read on, the teflon shoulder pads were merely hidden under his jacket, his excuse just hadn't made it to the surface yet.

Yes, he had been in a quandary about what to tell the Parliament Intelligence and Security Committee and the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, but he too had not actually spilled the beans. No, he was totally blameless, he had delegated the matter to senior civil servants to make sure that everything was done by the book. Once again it was a case of 'not me guv', somebody else had set the ball rolling that led to Dr Kelly apparently committing suicide.

Would this parade of denial and double talk ever cease? Well yes it finally did when Dr Kelly's widow testified that on the 9th July the Defence Ministry had given her husband a mere five minutes notice of the release of their press statement. That's all the time they allowed him and his wife to get out of town before the press pack descended on their home. Then just to make life a little more interesting for one of their most senior people they announced that he was to appear before the Foreign Affairs Committee on the 15th July and that it would be televised. Mrs Kelly said that her husband went ballistic when he found out.

Two days later Dr Kelly went missing and was found sitting against a tree, dead, his wrists slit and his bloodstream overdosed with a powerful pain killer. He had apparently committed suicide. This quiet, mild mannered man had seemingly been driven to self destruct by a heartless political machine.

But the story will not finish here because Dr Kelly wrote a number of emails only hours before he disappeared talking about travelling to Iraq the following week and wanting to wait until the end of the week before making a judgement on the matters unfolding before him. To compound this anomaly, a neighbour who met him while he was out walking declared that he seemed to be his normal self. And yet, according to the autopsy, he subsequently swallowed around thirty tablets before quietly sitting down against a tree and draining his life's blood. Ms Holmes, a search volunteer, said that when she found him his legs were straight in front of him, his right arm was to the side of him, but his left arm was bent back in a funny position. Should we read anything into this? This man, who was judged to be in a normal frame of mind by his neighbour, making plans which he shared in emails only three hours before he left for his walk had, for some inexplicable reason, suddenly and spontaneously decided to kill himself up against a tree? The conspiracy theorists will have a ball!

But in spite of all this obfuscation and double talk there is one group in this country that will benefit. At least the bugs and bacteria that live in the darkest corners of our society will have the satisfaction of knowing that they are no longer the lowest form of life in Britain.



	Before the Hutton Enquiry politicians in Britain were considered to be untrustworthy individuals who would say or do anything to get a vote. Once in power they would never answer a direct question with a straight answer, and even in the face of undeniable facts they would use every tactic to avoid conceding any hint of error or wrong doing. Not quite the lowest form of life on the planet, but close. However, since the start of the Hutton Enquiry they have taken the 'not me guv' syndrome to the extreme. At the outset Geoff Hoon, Defence Secretary and ultimately Dr Kelly's boss, denied that he had participated in any aspect of revealing the scientist's identity to the media. It was all down to number 10 - the Prime Minister's Office - it was nothing to do with him. Quietly forgetting that it was one of his Ministry's management who had given Dr Kelly an assurance that his admission about speaking to Andrew Gilligan, a BBC reporter, would not be made public. And totally dismissing from his mind that it was his Ministry who eventually issued the press statement outing Dr Kelly. So with these doubtful words of reassurance ringing in our ears let us turn our attention to the discrete 17th century terrace, just a couple of hundred yards along Whitehall, that houses the UK Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair. When he gave testimony Prime Minister Blair sounded almost honourable, declaring that he would have quit if the allegations about the juiced up Iraq dossier - the document that he used to persuade us to go to war - had proven to be true. It sounded so good, a breath of fresh air in the mire of British politics; an oxymoron, an honest, plain speaking politician. But read on, the teflon shoulder pads were merely hidden under his jacket, his excuse just hadn't made it to the surface yet. Yes, he had been in a quandary about what to tell the Parliament Intelligence and Security Committee and the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, but he too had not actually spilled the beans. No, he was totally blameless, he had delegated the matter to senior civil servants to make sure that everything was done by the book. Once again it was a case of 'not me guv', somebody else had set the ball rolling that led to Dr Kelly apparently committing suicide. Would this parade of denial and double talk ever cease? Well yes it finally did when Dr Kelly's widow testified that on the 9th July the Defence Ministry had given her husband a mere five minutes notice of the release of their press statement. That's all the time they allowed him and his wife to get out of town before the press pack descended on their home. Then just to make life a little more interesting for one of their most senior people they announced that he was to appear before the Foreign Affairs Committee on the 15th July and that it would be televised. Mrs Kelly said that her husband went ballistic when he found out. Two days later Dr Kelly went missing and was found sitting against a tree, dead, his wrists slit and his bloodstream overdosed with a powerful pain killer. He had apparently committed suicide. This quiet, mild mannered man had seemingly been driven to self destruct by a heartless political machine. But the story will not finish here because Dr Kelly wrote a number of emails only hours before he disappeared talking about travelling to Iraq the following week and wanting to wait until the end of the week before making a judgement on the matters unfolding before him. To compound this anomaly, a neighbour who met him while he was out walking declared that he seemed to be his normal self. And yet, according to the autopsy, he subsequently swallowed around thirty tablets before quietly sitting down against a tree and draining his life's blood. Ms Holmes, a search volunteer, said that when she found him his legs were straight in front of him, his right arm was to the side of him, but his left arm was bent back in a funny position. Should we read anything into this? This man, who was judged to be in a normal frame of mind by his neighbour, making plans which he shared in emails only three hours before he left for his walk had, for some inexplicable reason, suddenly and spontaneously decided to kill himself up against a tree? The conspiracy theorists will have a ball! But in spite of all this obfuscation and double talk there is one group in this country that will benefit. At least the bugs and bacteria that live in the darkest corners of our society will have the satisfaction of knowing that they are no longer the lowest form of life in Britain.