No 10 admits Hutton cover-up (With mentions of David Kelly... hmmm)

[LittleApple81]

By Colin Brown, Kim Sengupta and Andrew Grice
17 July 2004

Downing Street admitted yesterday that MI6 embarked on an unprecedented cover-up after it withdrew intelligence supporting the Government's dossier on Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction because it was unreliable.

In an astonishing admission after the disclosure of the cover-up in yesterday's Independent, Tony Blair's official spokesman said MI6 decided not to tell the Hutton inquiry - set up to investigate the death of the government scientist David Kelly - that crucial intelligence on Saddam's chemical and biological weapons was unsound. The security services, he said, felt it was "too sensitive'' to be made public. The head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, also decided not to tell Mr Blair. The Prime Minister's spokesman said Mr Blair only became aware of the withdrawal of the intelligence as a result of the inquiry by Lord Butler of Brockwell, which was delivered three days ago.

Senior sources close to last year's Hutton inquiry said they were unaware that crucial intelligence had been withdrawn, and had this been known, a number of government witnesses would have faced questions about the matter. The sources insisted that the fact that intelligence had been withdrawn by MI6 was not revealed to Lord Hutton either orally or in written evidence.

After the death of Dr Kelly, Mr Blair asked Lord Hutton to conduct an inquiry. Mr Blair's official spokesman said on 21 July last year: "The important point is that we have said that he will have whatever papers and people he needs."

a lot more at link.... interesting
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=541887

[DeepModem Mom]

1. Those darn intelligence guys -- kept Bush and Blair both in the dark:

"The head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, also decided not to tell Mr Blair....Downing Street insisted yesterday that the first time Mr Blair knew about the discredited intelligence was in the Butler report. " :eyes:

[LittleApple81]

2. I don't believe a word of it. They were setup as patsies. n/t