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The Prime Minister: To be fair to the right hon. Gentleman, he has not made allegations of lying against me personally throughout the past few months. Because of the position that he took on the war, he is obviously in a stronger position to ask some of those questions than the Leader of the Opposition.
Nobody was actually in any doubt about the threat that Saddam posed, and I shall quote the Liberal Democrat spokesman, the hon. Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Mr. Moore):
- "Saddam must be disarmed and his evil regime with it. Nobody disputes that."—[Official Report, 26 February 2003; Vol. 400, c. 288.]
Of course, we will reflect very carefully on the lessons that the report outlines for us, and that is absolutely right. Incidentally, the term "mitigation" in relation to the Ministry of Defence personnel who handled Dr. Kelly is Lord Hutton's term.
On the Joint Intelligence Committee, I agree that its independence should be fully upheld, but I point out that Lord Hutton's report makes it clear that that independence was not compromised by the Government and that no intelligence was inserted in the dossier against the committee's wishes.
I want to draw attention to this issue: the right hon. Gentleman is right to say that at one point the report—Alastair Campbell accepted this in his evidence—states that in hindsight it might well have been better to name Dr. Kelly in the statement or 24 hours later. However, the crucial point is that the whole of the allegation about the naming of Dr. Kelly has proceeded on the basis that his name should have been kept confidential. The important finding that Lord Hutton makes is that his name should not have been kept confidential. That puts the issue in an entirely different context.
Finally, I am sure that the BBC will make its own response. I want to make it clear that I have never questioned and would never question the independence of the BBC, but it is not inconsistent with its independence also to exercise proper editorial control over serious allegations.
Donald Anderson (Swansea, East) (Lab): Was it not a sad sight to see the Leader of the Opposition scratching around for minor qualifications in a report that on any objective analysis exonerates my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and undermines those who, for many months, have sought to impugn his integrity? Would it not now be more constructive for press, public and Parliament to concentrate on reconciliation and reconstruction in Iraq, with a new focus that could transform that country from being a danger to its neighbours, the world and its own people into a model for its region?
The Prime Minister: I entirely agree with what my right hon. Friend says. I would add only that we should once again state the House's pride in the work that British troops and civilians are doing in Iraq alongside troops and civilians from some 30 different countries to rebuild that country, giving its people every day an increasingly better chance of prosperity and stability in the future.
Sir Teddy Taylor (Rochford and Southend, East) (Con): While the Prime Minister is correct in saying that the words were carefully chosen and there were mitigating factors, does he not genuinely think that somebody should accept some responsibility for the clear accusation on page 324 of the report that
- "the MoD was at fault and is to be criticised for not informing Dr Kelly that its press office would confirm his name"?
- "must have been a great shock and very upsetting for him".
The Prime Minister: We accept entirely those findings, and the Ministry of Defence has made that clear and is obviously sorry for the distress that was caused to Dr. Kelly as a result. What is important, however, is also to draw attention to what Lord Hutton says are the three mitigating circumstances, and it is therefore right that the Ministry of Defence accepts full responsibility—as indeed do the Government—but that we recognise the mitigating circumstances. Lord Hutton expressly found that it was not wrong, but was actually right that the name came out.
Ann Taylor (Dewsbury) (Lab): Does my right hon. Friend accept that the vast majority of Members of Parliament are grateful for the thorough work that Lord Hutton has done and that the public will set more store by his judgments than the wriggling comments from the Leader of the Opposition? Does my right hon. Friend accept that that the findings of Lord Hutton parallel closely the findings of the report of the Intelligence and Security Committee, and will he confirm that the Government will be able to produce their response to that report in advance of the debate next Wednesday, because it is clearly relevant? Will he also recommend to
the House that all Members who consider themselves informed on the matter should read the report by the Intelligence and Security Committee, which confirms what Lord Hutton said—that the dossier was not sexed up by anyone and that there was no political pressure whatever on the Joint Intelligence Committee?
The Prime Minister: I thank my right hon. Friend for the work that she does as Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee. I hope and believe that we will produce our response to her report prior to the debate next week. Of course she is right to draw attention to the fact that Lord Hutton's report confirms the findings of her Committee, which is no doubt why those findings received publicity for other reasons on the day that they were published. It is right that everybody who has considered the issue has concluded, as they were bound to do from the evidence, that the original claim made against the Government was false.
Mr. Robert Jackson (Wantage) (Con): Lord Hutton deserves all our thanks for the incisive conclusions that he has reached, which I hope will achieve closure on the matter, not least for my constituents, the Kelly family, to whom all our hearts go out. On the question of the cause or causes of Dr. Kelly's death, which do not in my view include the disclosure of his name—which he knew to be inevitable and inescapable—the BBC has admitted that Mr. Gilligan's broadcast was wrong, and Lord Hutton has concluded that the BBC did not exercise proper editorial control. Does the Prime Minister agree that if Mr. Gilligan had not felt encouraged to make the gravest allegations as a matter of routine, my constituent Dr. Kelly would still be alive today?
The Prime Minister: I agree entirely with what the hon. Gentleman said about Mrs. Kelly and the Kelly family. I also agree with what he said at the conclusion of his question. It is important that there be reflection on how such allegations come to be routinely made, as there is absolutely no need for that. As I said earlier, a perfectly sensible debate can be had; it is one to which I think the public would respond with rather greater enjoyment and depth, if it was conducted on the basis that there can be two views about Iraq and the justification for the conflict. I have never disrespected anyone who took a different view, and I certainly do not disrespect those people who ask searching and proper questions about what has happened to weapons of mass destruction. I entirely accept that, but it has always been a completely different issue from suggesting that I, the intelligence services, or anyone else in government deliberately set out to mislead people. It simply is not necessary for the debate to be conducted in those terms. Frankly, if I may put it like this: the contrast between the journalism exemplified by Mr. Gilligan and that exemplified by Susan Watts tells its own tale.
Mr. Ernie Ross (Dundee, West) (Lab): Does my right hon. Friend share the concern, at least on the Labour Benches, that the Leader of the Opposition did not find it within himself today to come to the House and apologise—[Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker: Order. The hon. Gentleman should put a question on the report. This is not a time to attack any Member of the House. He must put a question regarding the report.
Mr. Ross: Does my right hon. Friend agree that, following the publication of the report, it is time to stop arguing about whether a document was right or wrong? The responsibility of the House is to help to rebuild Iraq.
The Prime Minister: I agree. Whatever the questions, I hope that at least the major part of our focus is on the reconstruction of Iraq and I thank my hon. Friend for his support.
Mr. Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): As Lord Hutton makes clear on pages 2 and 3, he was asked to investigate the circumstances of a personal tragedy, not the issue of weapons of mass destruction, so when the Prime Minister's chief of staff wrote to John Scarlett on 17 September 2002 that
- "We will need to make it clear in launching the document that we do not claim that we have evidence that he"—
- "is an imminent threat",
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