ALASTAIR Campbell authorised a “substantial rewrite” of the government’s dossier on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD) after a discussion with Tony Blair, according to a damning e-mail produced in evidence yesterday at the Hutton inquiry.
The order to rewrite the dossier was given on 5 September 2002, five days before the claim that Iraq could launch WMD at 45 minutes’ notice was inserted into the document.
But even after the rewrite, there were still concerns within No 10 that it failed to make a strong enough case for war. Jonathan Powell, Mr Blair’s chief of staff, warned “the document does nothing to demonstrate a threat, let alone an imminent threat from Saddam”.
In another damaging day for the government, there were fresh insights yesterday into how far Downing Street was prepared to go to rubbish claims in a BBC report that it had “sexed-up” the dossier to strengthen the case for war.
The inquiry heard how Mr Blair himself wanted the weapons expert Dr David Kelly to face a public grilling over whether he was the source of the BBC story, and an e-mail from Tom Kelly – the Downing Street spin doctor who smeared Dr Kelly by describing him as a “Walter Mitty” figure – admitted: “This is now a game of chicken with the Beeb – they [sic] only way they will shift is if they see the screw tightening.”
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