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95-570: On 18 July 2003, Kelly, an employee of the Ministry of Defence , was found dead after he had been named as the source of quotations used by BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan . These quotations had formed the basis of media reports claiming that the government had knowingly " sexed up " the " September Dossier ", a report into Iraq and weapons of mass destruction . The inquiry opened in August 2003 and reported on 28 January 2004. The Hutton report cleared

190-495: A new inquiry , announced by the government on 3 February 2004. Amongst other things, the Butler Report concluded that "the fact that the reference to the 45 minute claim in the classified assessment was repeated in the dossier later led to suspicions that it had been included because of its eye-catching character". Andrew Gilligan claims that this has vindicated his original story that the dossier had been "sexed up". Over

285-524: A select committee in order to put pressure on Dr Kelly. Gilligan, whilst disagreeing with the overall thrust of the report, also admitted that he had attributed inferences to Dr Kelly which were in fact his own. The Inquiry specifically criticised the chain of management that caused the BBC to defend its story. The BBC management, the report said, had accepted Gilligan's word that his story was accurate, in spite of his notes being incomplete. Davies had then told

380-595: A defence policy with four primary missions for the Armed Forces: The review stated the Armed Forces will also contribute to the government's response to crises by being prepared to: Defence is governed and managed by several committees. The following organisational groups come under the control of the MOD. Top level budgets The MOD comprises seven top-level budgets . The head of each organisation

475-475: A dozen years later, the Chilcot Inquiry came to different conclusions. The Financial Times reported, "Every previous inquiry into Britain's decision to invade Iraq has swiftly been condemned by the public as a "whitewash". Such a description hardly applies to the monumental inquest that has been published by Sir John Chilcot." The report was leaked by an unknown party to The Sun the night before

570-624: A finding that Alastair Campbell had falsified the September Dossier . Martin Kettle wrote in The Guardian on 3 February: "Too many newspapers invested too heavily in a particular preferred outcome on these key points. They wanted the government found guilty on the dossier and on the naming, and they wanted Gilligan's reporting vindicated. When Hutton drew opposite conclusions, they damned his findings as perverse and his report as

665-471: A formal inquest into the death, saying there was "insufficient evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt he killed himself". In January 2010, it was disclosed that Hutton had requested that all files relating to the postmortem remain secret for 70 years. Hutton said this was to protect Kelly's family from the distress of further media reports about the death, saying: "My request was not a concealment of evidence because every matter of relevance had been examined or

760-579: A government department and has responsibility for the strategy, performance, reform, organisation and the finances of the MOD. The role works closely with the Chief of the Defence Staff in leading the organisation and supporting Ministers in the conduct of business in the department across the full range of responsibilities. The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 included £178 billion investment in new equipment and capabilities. The review set

855-491: A governors meeting at the BBC that took place directly after the Hutton report. At the end of the report Hutton recalled how the final part of David Kelly's life had not been representative of his entire career in the civil service: Deliberately or otherwise, Dr Kelly had raised wider questions about the quality, interpretation and presentation of intelligence that Hutton had left unanswered. Some of these were to be addressed in

950-414: A later letter to the newspaper. These doctors argued that the post-mortem finding of a transected ulnar artery could not have caused a degree of blood loss that would kill someone, particularly when outside in the cold (where vasoconstriction would cause slow blood loss). Further, this conflicted with the minimal amount of blood found at the scene. They also contended that the amount of co-proxamol found

1045-605: A million people along the south coast of England, from Torquay to the New Forest , were exposed to bacteria including E.coli and Bacillus globigii , which mimics anthrax ." Two scientists commissioned by the Ministry of Defence stated that these trials posed no risk to the public. This was confirmed by Sue Ellison, a representative of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down who said that

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1140-445: A professor of intensive-care medicine, wrote a letter to the newspaper The Times questioning Lord Hutton's verdict. On 14 August 2010, Jennifer Dyson, a retired pathologist, amplified the criticism, saying that a coroner would probably have recorded an open verdict in the absence of absolute proof that suicide was intended. She cast further doubt on the circumstances surrounding the death of Kelly, and also criticised Hutton's handling of

1235-563: A racial discrimination claim against the Ministry of Defence (MoD). In November 2019, mixed race soldier Mark De Kretser sued MoD for £100k claiming he was subjected to "grindingly repetitive" racist taunts from colleagues. In October 2009, the MOD was heavily criticised for withdrawing the bi-annual non-operational training £20m budget for the Territorial Army (TA), ending all non-operational training for six months until April 2010. The government eventually backed down and restored

1330-425: A specific deadline by which to complete their work, after which they cease to exist. House of Commons select committees are generally responsible for overseeing the work of government departments and agencies, whereas Lords select committees look at general issues, such as the constitution or the economy. Select committees are also one of parliament's mechanisms for holding the private sector to account. Following

1425-483: A study of the pre-war intelligence: "I had to draw the line somewhere." He felt the allegations against Gilligan were "far graver" than questions concerning the quality of the intelligence, and that it was right that a separate inquiry, the Butler Review , was being conducted. In November 2006 he dismissed the media claims that his report was a whitewash, saying: I knew that if I delivered a report concluding that

1520-593: A system called the Defence Sourcing Portal. A separate internal policy generally operates in respect of low value purchasing below this threshold. DEFCON contract conditions are numbered defence contract conditions are in contracts issued by the MOD (not to be confused with DEFCON as used by the United States Armed Forces , which refers to a level of military "defence readiness condition"). Examples include: A full set of

1615-499: A whitewash. But the report's weakness was its narrowness, and to some extent its unworldliness, not the accuracy of its verdicts." Thousands of BBC workers paid for a full-page advertisement in The Daily Telegraph on 31 January in order to publish a message of support for Dyke, followed by a list of their names. The message read: The following statement is from BBC employees, presenters, reporters and contributors. It

1710-428: A woman who was assisting him, and the unexplained wiping of his computer's hard drive. Throughout 2004 there were frequent questions from medical practitioners, as well as ambulance crew on the scene, about the veracity of the verdict of suicide. They said that it was extremely unusual to die as a result of cutting the ulnar artery – Kelly being the only supposed case of this occurring in 2003 – and that almost no blood

1805-604: Is neoclassical in style and was originally built between 1938 and 1959 to designs by Vincent Harris to house the Air Ministry and the Board of Trade . A major refurbishment of the building was completed under a Private Finance Initiative contract by Skanska in 2004. The northern entrance in Horse Guards Avenue is flanked by two monumental statues, Earth and Water , by Charles Wheeler . Opposite stands

1900-617: Is "in excess of £3.3 billion". The defence estate is divided as training areas & ranges (84.0%), research & development (5.4%), airfields (3.4%), barracks & camps (2.5%), storage & supply depots (1.6%), and other (3.0%). These are largely managed by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation . The headquarters of the MOD are in Whitehall and is known as MOD Main Building . This structure

1995-568: Is also the Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Personnel). Permanent Secretary and other senior officials The Ministers and Chiefs of the Defence Staff are supported by several civilian, scientific and professional military advisors. The Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence (generally known as the Permanent Secretary ) is the senior civil servant at the MOD. Their role is to ensure that it operates effectively as

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2090-540: Is highly regrettable that Dominic Grieve has sought, as did the coroner Nicholas Gardiner before him, to rubber-stamp the clear subversion of due process of the law that the derailing of the inquest by Lord Falconer on August 13, 2003 constituted. Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) The Ministry of Defence ( MOD or MoD ) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom . It

2185-717: Is personally accountable for the performance and outputs of their particular organisation. These are: Executive agencies Executive non-departmental public bodies Advisory non-departmental public bodies Ad-hoc advisory group Other bodies Public corporations Enabling organisation In addition, the MOD is responsible for the administration of the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus. Competitive procurement processes are used whenever possible, and all new direct tender and contract opportunities valued over £10,000 are advertised on

2280-463: Is reported he only retained the support of one-third of the board. However, after announcing his resignation, Dyke stated: Andrew Gilligan resigned because of his part in the affair on 30 January. However, in his resignation statement he questioned the value of Hutton's report: Blair, who had been repeatedly under fire for the "sexing-up" allegations, told the House of Commons in the debate following

2375-617: Is responsible for implementing the defence policy set by the government and serves as the headquarters of the British Armed Forces . The MOD states that its principal objectives are to defend the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and its interests and to strengthen international peace and stability. The MOD also manages day-to-day running of the armed forces, contingency planning and defence procurement . The expenditure, administration and policy of

2470-530: The 2024 United Kingdom general election , most of the new chairs of the 26 select committees were elected in September 2024. Some English local authorities also have a select committee system, as part of their Overview and Scrutiny arrangements. Committees often open investigations, called inquiries, into topics within their remit. As part of these inquiries they gather information from government officials and interested people, groups, and organisations. At

2565-701: The Gurkha Monument, sculpted by Philip Jackson and unveiled in 1997 by Queen Elizabeth II . Within it is the Victoria Cross and George Cross Memorial, and nearby are memorials to the Fleet Air Arm and RAF (to its east, facing the riverside). Henry VIII 's wine cellar at the Palace of Whitehall , built in 1514–1516 for Cardinal Wolsey , is in the basement of Main Building, and is used for entertainment. The entire vaulted brick structure of

2660-460: The Hinduja affair , which led to the resignation of Peter Mandelson , announced that he had been investigating "unanswered questions" from the official inquiry into Kelly's death. He later announced that he had uncovered evidence to show that Kelly did not die from natural causes. In July 2006, Baker claimed that his hard drive had been wiped remotely. Baker's book The Strange Death of David Kelly

2755-603: The Wright Committee was formed to improve the procedures and relevance of Parliament. Changes made based on the committee's recommendations included limiting the number of members per committee to 11, requiring those members and chairs to be appointed to their positions by the House, and a reduction in the number of committees. The Backbench Business Committee was created in 2010 as a non-ministerial committee to cover non-government business, following recommendations from

2850-537: The BBC Board of Governors that he was happy with the story, and told the Prime Minister that a satisfactory internal inquiry had taken place. The Board of Governors, under Davies' guidance, accepted that further investigation of the government's complaints were unnecessary. In his report Hutton wrote of this: There was considerable speculation in the media that the report had been deliberately written to clear

2945-598: The Cabinet. The three service ministers – Admiralty, War, Air – remained in direct operational control of their respective services, but ceased to attend Cabinet. From 1946 to 1964, five Departments of State did the work of the modern Ministry of Defence: the Admiralty , the War Office , the Air Ministry , the Ministry of Aviation , and an earlier form of the Ministry of Defence. Those departments merged in 1964, and

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3040-481: The Channel 4 Political Book Award 2008, Norman Baker (at the time an MP) argued that Kelly was almost certainly murdered. He described the police investigation and Hutton Inquiry as a 'farce', which failed to investigate numerous discrepancies and anomalies in the physical, medical and witness evidence. Baker concluded that Kelly's death was probably a revenge killing by Iraqi supporters of Saddam Hussein, and that it

3135-516: The Chiefs of Staff Committee and to co-ordinate defence matters. The post was held by the Prime Minister of the day until Clement Attlee 's government introduced the Ministry of Defence Act of 1946 . After 1946, the three posts of Secretary of State for War , First Lord of the Admiralty , and Secretary of State for Air were formally subordinated to the new Minister of Defence , who had a seat in

3230-518: The DEFCONs can be accessed via the MoD's Defence Gateway (registration required). The government noted in 2013 that the MoD's third-party expenditure was characterised by "complex, high-value contracts". Defence purchasing contributes to government ambitions to make supply chains more accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises , but the government commented that it had yet to secure good insight into

3325-725: The Defence Staff (CDS) is the professional head of the British Armed Forces and the most senior uniformed military adviser to the Secretary of State for Defence and the Prime Minister . The CDS is supported by the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff (VCDS) who deputises and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the armed services aspect of the MOD through the Central Staff, working closely alongside

3420-496: The High Court for an inquest, saying that the evidence Kelly had committed suicide was "overwhelming". This was greeted with outrage by the group of doctors campaigning for an inquest, whose leader, Dr Stephen Frost, said the government was "complicit in a determined and concerted cover-up". He added: The continuing cover-up of the truth of what happened is a national disgrace and should be of concern to all British citizens... It

3515-854: The House of Commons. Party managers negotiate which party chairs each committee. By tradition, the Public Accounts Committee is led by a member of the opposition party, while a member of the governing party leads the Treasury Select Committee . Committee membership reflects each party’s size in the House, and members are elected within their parties. Typically, a departmental committee has 11 members, though some, like Public Accounts , are larger. The Osmotherly Rules set out guidance on how civil servants should respond to parliamentary select committees. Following general elections, chairs and members of select committees have to be reappointed. Committees don't have

3610-732: The Hutton Report received a boost when Cherie Blair was reported to have auctioned off a signed copy of the report for £400 for the benefit of the Labour Party in May 2006. Although suicide was officially accepted as the cause of death, some medical experts have raised doubts, suggesting that the evidence does not support this. The most detailed objection was provided in a letter from three medical doctors published in The Guardian , reinforced by support from two other senior doctors in

3705-533: The Inquiry was James Dingemans QC (now Mr Justice Dingemans) and Peter Knox (now KC). Representing the government was Jonathan Sumption (now Lord Sumption). Andrew Caldecott QC represented the BBC. At the conclusion of the Inquiry there was widespread approval of the process conducted by Hutton. The Inquiry had provided exceptional access to the inner workings of the UK Government and the BBC. Virtually all

3800-459: The Kelly affair. The BBC's willingness to accuse the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Defence so publicly of wrongdoing, despite the mistakes the BBC itself acknowledged it had made, boosted its credentials as an impartial and unbiased news source. Hutton himself defended the report, speaking before a Commons select committee on 14 May 2004. He stated he had not thought it appropriate to embark on

3895-550: The MOD are scrutinised by the Defence Select Committee , except for Defence Intelligence which instead falls under the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament . During the 1920s and 1930s, British civil servants and politicians, looking back at the performance of the state during World War I , concluded that there was a need for greater co-ordination between the three services that made up

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3990-633: The Permanent Secretary. They are joined by the professional heads of the three British armed services ( Royal Navy , British Army and Royal Air Force ) and the Commander of Strategic Command . All personnel sit at OF-9 rank in the NATO rank system . Together the Chiefs of Staff form the Chiefs of Staff Committee with responsibility for providing advice on operational military matters and

4085-479: The Reform the House of Commons report under the Wright Committee . Since June 2010, most committee chairs are elected by the whole House. Before this, each party appointed members and chose chairs within the group. Select committees recommendations often focus on changes to government policy. One study estimates that 30-40% of select committee recommendations become policy. A select committee evidence session

4180-468: The Ten O'Clock News the same day and by Susan Watts on BBC Two 's Newsnight on 2 June. On 1 June, Gilligan repeated his allegations in an article written for The Mail on Sunday , naming government press secretary Alastair Campbell as the driving force for alteration of the dossier. The government denounced the reports and accused the BBC of poor journalism. In subsequent weeks the corporation stood by

4275-420: The affair. Dyke, who had not given the conclusions of the Hutton report his full backing, said that he "could not quite work out" what the BBC was apologising for. The Independent subsequently reported that the BBC governors had ignored the advice of BBC lawyers that the Hutton report was "legally flawed". Although this was denied by the BBC, it was confirmed in 2007 when the BBC was forced to publish minutes of

4370-401: The allocation of contracts. A government report covered by The Guardian newspaper in 2002 indicated that between 1940 and 1979, the Ministry of Defence "turned large parts of the country into a giant laboratory to conduct a series of secret germ warfare tests on the public" and many of these tests "involved releasing potentially dangerous chemicals and micro-organisms over vast swathes of

4465-649: The armed forces of the United Kingdom: the Royal Navy , the British Army and the Royal Air Force . The formation of a united ministry of defence was rejected by the coalition government of David Lloyd George in 1921, but the Chiefs of Staff Committee was formed in 1923, for the purposes of inter-service co-ordination. As rearmament became a concern during the 1930s, Stanley Baldwin created

4560-560: The behaviour of the BBC criticised in the report and called for Greg Dyke to resign, as he did later that day (29 January). The Sunday Times depicted Lord Hutton as the three wise monkeys who would 'see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil'. The reactions of papers supportive of the Conservative Party , such as The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph , in part reflected the Conservatives' disappointment that

4655-564: The cellar was encased in steel and concrete and relocated nine feet to the west and nearly 19 feet (5.8 m) deeper in 1949, when construction was resumed at the site after World War II . This was carried out without any significant damage to the structure. The most notable fraud conviction has been that of Gordon Foxley , Director of Ammunition Procurement at the Ministry of Defence from 1981 to 1984. Police claimed he received at least £3.5m in total in corrupt payments, such as substantial bribes from overseas arms contractors aiming to influence

4750-409: The claim was untrue. It was because of the report's criticism of his actions that Gavyn Davies resigned on the day of publication, 28 January 2004. Reporters from rival news organisation ITN described the day of publication as "one of the worst in the BBC's history". Greg Dyke , the director-general, resigned two days after the publication of the report, following a meeting of BBC Governors where it

4845-560: The committees deemed appropriate. It also suggested that committee members should be selected independently of the party whips, as chosen by the Select Committee of Selection . The fourteen new committees began working in 1980 after the 1979 general election . Since then, Parliament has organised House of Commons committees into three main types: In July 2005, the Administration Select Committee

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4940-509: The defence functions of the Ministry of Aviation Supply were merged into the Ministry of Defence in 1971. The unification of all defence activities under a single ministry was motivated by a desire to curb interservice rivalries and followed the precedent set by the American National Security Act of 1947 . The Ministers in the Ministry of Defence are as follows, with cabinet ministers in bold: The Chief of

5035-680: The documentation provided to the Inquiry was quickly provided to the public on the Inquiry's website. British ambassador David Broucher reported a conversation with Dr Kelly at a meeting in Geneva in February 2003, which he described as "from a very deep memory hole". Broucher related that Kelly said he had assured his Iraqi sources that there would be no war if they co-operated, and that a war would put him in an "ambiguous" moral position. Broucher had asked Kelly what would happen if Iraq were invaded, and Kelly had replied, "I will probably be found dead in

5130-465: The end of inquiries they often publish a report with their findings. The government must issue a written response to each select committee report. Select committees in the House of Commons are governed by the Standing Orders. The powers of departmental select committees are set out in standing order 152. Political parties divide committee chair positions based on their number of seats in

5225-514: The fact that an investigation into Britain's reasons for joining the war in Iraq was beyond the scope of the inquiry. None of the newspapers presented evidence of a cover-up, but they questioned whether the conclusions were supported by the evidence. Other newspapers such as The Times , The Sun (both owned by News Corporation and usually critical of the BBC) and The Daily Telegraph concentrated on

5320-606: The funding. The TA provides a small percentage of the UK's operational troops. Its members train on weekly evenings and monthly weekends, as well as two-week exercises generally annually and occasionally bi-annually for troops doing other courses. The cuts would have meant a significant loss of personnel and would have had adverse effects on recruitment. In 2013, it was found that the Ministry of Defence had overspent on its equipment budget by £6.5bn on orders that could take up to 39 years to fulfil. The Ministry of Defence has been criticised in

5415-413: The government had deliberately misled the country about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and had acted towards Dr Kelly in a dishonourable and underhand way, I would be acclaimed in many sections of the media as a fearless and independent judge. I also knew that if I did not come to such findings it was probable that my report would be subjected to considerable criticism. The notoriety of

5510-517: The government of wrongdoing, while the BBC was strongly criticised, leading to the resignation of the BBC's chairman Gavyn Davies and director-general Greg Dyke . The report was met with scepticism by the British public, and criticism by British newspapers such as The Guardian , Independent , and the Daily Mail , though others said it exposed serious flaws within the BBC. Kelly had been

5605-510: The government, Hutton determined that any failure of intelligence assessments fell outside his remit, and the Intelligence Services thus also escaped censure. Instead the report placed a great deal of emphasis on evidence of the failings of Gilligan and the BBC, many of which had been explicitly acknowledged during the course of the Inquiry. Gilligan, for example, admitted and apologised for surreptitiously briefing politicians on

5700-429: The government, a claim disputed by Lord Hutton at a later press conference. Many people remain convinced that this was the case. Suggestions of whitewash were supported by Hutton's careful choice of language at certain points in the report. For example, he argued that the use of the phrase " sexed up " by Gilligan would have been taken by the general public to indicate an outright lie rather than mere exaggeration, and thus

5795-697: The information had been disclosed by the head of the Academic Unit of Pathology at Sheffield University Medical School, Professor Paul Ince, who noted that the post-mortem had found severe narrowing of the blood vessels, and said that heart disease was likely to have been a factor in Kelly's death as the cut to the wrist artery would not itself have been fatal. Vice-President of the British Cardiovascular Society Ian Simpson said that Kelly's artery anomaly could have contributed to his death. Dave Bartlett and Vanessa Hunt,

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5890-586: The inquiry closed on 4 September. A second session of witness-calling began on Monday 15 September, where some witnesses from the first session, such as Andrew Gilligan, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon , BBC chairman Gavyn Davies and Alastair Campbell were recalled for further questions arising from the first phase, and some witnesses were called for the first time. The taking of evidence closed on Wednesday 24 September. The inquiry heard evidence on 22 days, lasting 110 hours, from 74 witnesses. Examination and cross-examination came from five Queen's Counsel . Representing

5985-496: The inquiry had indicated: Despite this evidence, Hutton's report largely cleared the government of any wrongdoing. In large measure this was because Hutton judged that the government had not known of the reservations in the intelligence community: it seemed they had been discounted by senior intelligence assessors (the Joint Intelligence Committee) — thus Gilligan's claim that the government "probably knew"

6080-453: The inquiry. She joined other experts questioning the official finding that Kelly had bled to death and argued that it was more likely that he had suffered a heart attack due to the stress he had been placed under. This intervention came as Michael Howard , the former Conservative Party leader, became the most prominent politician to call for a full inquest into Kelly's death. In his 2007 book The Strange Death of David Kelly , shortlisted for

6175-443: The intelligence was flawed, was itself unfounded. Furthermore, the Inquiry heard that these were not the words used by Gilligan's source, but Gilligan's own inference. However, the judgement that No. 10 was not aware of the reservations of the intelligence community was not supported by other evidence contained in the report, such as the transcript of an interview given by David Kelly to BBC journalist Susan Watts. In addition to clearing

6270-449: The legal power to compel people to appear before them. Rupert Murdoch and Mike Ashley are two examples of witnesses who initially declined before agreeing to appear. Mark Zuckerberg , for example, declined to appear in front of a committee at all. Following the dissolution of parliament that preceded the 2024 election, all select committees were disbanded. The House of Commons allocated which parties would hold each Chair in advance of

6365-411: The official publication date. The Sun and consequently most other newspapers in their later editions ran with the leaked version of the report. Delivered by an unnamed source over the telephone to Sun political editor Trevor Kavanagh , the leaked version accurately described the report's main findings. All sides involved in the Inquiry denounced the leak. Lord Hutton launched a further inquiry into how

6460-459: The past for poor management and financial control. Specific examples of overspending include: In May 2024, the ministry's payroll system was reportedly targeted multiple times in a cyberattack in which personnel and their bank details were compromised. While initial reports attributed the cyberattack to China , the Minister of Defence Grant Shapps said it would take some time to conclude who

6555-475: The population without the public being told." The Ministry of Defence claims that these trials were to simulate germ warfare and that the tests were harmless. However, families who have been in the area of many of the tests are experiencing children with birth defects and physical and mental handicaps and many are asking for a public inquiry. The report estimated these tests affected millions of people, including during one period between 1961 and 1968 where "more than

6650-425: The position of Minister for Co-ordination of Defence . Ernle Chatfield, 1st Baron Chatfield held the post until the fall of the Chamberlain government in 1940. His success was limited by his lack of control over the existing Service departments, and his lack of political influence. On forming his government in 1940, Winston Churchill created the office of Minister of Defence, to exercise ministerial control over

6745-416: The preparation and conduct of military operations. The current Chiefs of Staff are as follows. The Chief of Defence Staff is supported by several Deputy Chiefs of the Defence Staff and senior officers at OF-8 rank. Additionally, there are a number of Assistant Chiefs of Defence Staff , including the Defence Services Secretary in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom , who

6840-523: The public above all else. An ICM public opinion poll , commissioned by the News of the World and published on 1 February 2004, showed that 54% of respondents believed Tony Blair 's reputation had deteriorated. Only 14% thought his status had improved after being vindicated in the report. In some countries the reputation of the BBC in fact improved as a result of its attacks on the British government during

6935-593: The release of the report that he had been completely exonerated. He demanded a retraction from those who had accused him of lying to the House, particularly Michael Howard , the Leader of the Opposition : Howard sidestepped the demand for an apology. However, immediately after the Board of Governors had accepted Dyke's resignation, Lord Ryder, as Acting Chairman of the BBC, apologised "unreservedly" for errors made during

7030-537: The report came to be leaked. This second inquiry, carried out by a solicitor, reported on 11 August 2004, but failed to find the source of the leak. It also said there were "no particular weaknesses" in the security of the report and so offered no suggestions of how a similar leak might be prevented in the future. Several national newspapers judged the report to be so uncritical of the government that they accused Hutton of participating in an "establishment whitewash". The Daily Mail wrote in its editorial "We're faced with

7125-527: The report did not find that Blair had misled the House of Commons or the public, which might have precipitated his resignation. On the other hand, left-wing newspapers such as The Guardian and The Daily Mirror , while supporting Blair against the Conservatives, strongly opposed British participation in the war in Iraq, and sympathised with what they (and many others) saw as the anti-war stance of BBC journalists such as Gilligan. While they probably did not want Blair forced from office, they would have welcomed

7220-472: The report, saying that it had a reliable source. Following intense media speculation, Kelly was finally named in the press as the source for Gilligan's story on 9 July. Kelly died by suicide in a field close to his home on 17 July. An inquiry was announced by the British government the following day. The inquiry was to investigate "the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr Kelly". The inquiry opened on 1 August. Hearings began on 11 August. The first phase of

7315-576: The results from these trials "will save lives, should the country or our forces face an attack by chemical and biological weapons." In February 2019, former soldier Inoke Momonakaya won £458,000 payout after a legal battle for the racial harassment and bullying he received while serving in the army. In August 2019, A Commons Defence Select Committee report revealed that several female and BAME military staff have raised concerns regarding discrimination, bullying and harassment. In September 2019, two former British army soldiers Nkululeko Zulu and Hani Gue won

7410-466: The scene of a suicide involving an arterial cut. Two forensic pathologists, Chris Milroy of Sheffield University and Guy Rutty of Leicester University , dismissed the paramedics' claims, saying it is hard to judge blood loss from the scene of a death, as some blood may have seeped into the ground. Milroy also told The Guardian that Kelly's heart condition may have made it hard for him to sustain any significant degree of blood loss. On 15 October 2007 it

7505-544: The source for reports made by three BBC journalists that the government, particularly the press office of Tony Blair , the Prime Minister , had knowingly embellished the dossier with misleading exaggerations of Iraq 's military capabilities; specifically, a claim that Iraq had the ability to launch a strike using "weapons of mass destruction" within 45 minutes. These reports were aired by Andrew Gilligan on BBC Radio 4 's Today programme on 29 May 2003, by Gavin Hewitt on

7600-585: The summer recess on 30 July 2024. Nominations for Chairs ran until 9 September. Ballots took place on 11 September. House of Lords select committees include: These committees run inquiries into and publish reports on topics within their remit. Specialised committees of investigation existed within Parliament since the Tudor period . In the sixteenth century, committees revised bills and considered constitutional and religious questions. The committees system

7695-417: The supply chain role of SMEs. The Ministry of Defence is one of the United Kingdom's largest landowners, owning 227,300 hectares of land and foreshore (either freehold or leasehold) at April 2014, which was valued at "about £20 billion". The MOD also has "rights of access" to a further 222,000 hectares. In total, this is about 1.8% of the UK land mass. The total annual cost to support the defence estate

7790-445: The two paramedics who were called to the scene of Kelly's death, have since spoken publicly with their opinion that there was not enough blood at the location to justify the belief that he had died from blood loss. Bartlett and Hunt told The Guardian that they had seen a small amount of blood on plants near Kelly's body and a patch of blood the size of a coin on his trousers. They said they would expect to find several pints of blood at

7885-503: The woods." Broucher then quoted from an email he had sent just after Kelly's death: "I did not think much of this at the time, taking it to be a hint that the Iraqis might try to take revenge against him, something that did not seem at all fanciful then. I now see that he may have been thinking on rather different lines." Hutton initially announced that he expected to be able to deliver his report in late November or early December. The report

7980-432: The wretched spectacle of the BBC chairman resigning while Alastair Campbell crows from the summit of his dunghill. Does this verdict, my lord, serve the real interest of truth?". The Independent included a large, mostly empty, white space above the fold on its front page containing the word "whitewash?" in small red type. The Daily Express headline read "Hutton's whitewash leaves questions unanswered" — referring to

8075-435: Was available for examination during the public inquiry. There was no secrecy surrounding the postmortem report because it had always been available for examination and questioning by counsel representing the interested parties during the inquiry." In 2010 Attorney General Dominic Grieve was said to be considering an inquiry to review the suicide finding. Early that August, a group of nine experts, including former coroners and

8170-436: Was created to replace five previous committees. It covers services in the House, including catering, the House of Commons Library , digital services, and visitor services. Sometimes, committees from the House of Commons or joint standing committees (which include members of both Houses) review individual bills in detail. Most bills go to public bill committees . Before 2006, these were called standing committees. In 2009,

8265-498: Was crudely disguised as a suicide by Thames Valley police – who appeared to have known of an assassination plot in advance – because the British government was fearful of the political consequences. He noted that many of those apparently involved have since received promotions or unusual awards. Baker later stated that more detail about this had to be removed from the book. While investigating Kelly's death, Baker claimed he had experienced strange events, including apparent intimidation of

8360-619: Was discovered, through a Freedom of Information request, that the knife had no fingerprints on it, nor were fingerprints retrieved from the medication blister pack or Kelly's mobile phone. The BBC broadcast a programme on Kelly on 25 February 2007 as part of the series The Conspiracy Files ; the network commissioned an opinion poll to establish the views of the public on his death. 22.7% of those surveyed thought Kelly had not killed himself, 38.8% of people believed he had, and 38.5% said they did not know. On 19 May 2006 Norman Baker , Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes , who had previously investigated

8455-447: Was eventually published on 28 January 2004. It ran to 750 pages in 13 chapters and 18 appendices, though this was mainly composed of excerpts from the hundreds of documents (letters, emails, transcripts of conversation, and so on) that were published during the inquiry. The main conclusions were: The report exonerated the government much more completely than had been expected by many observers prior to its publication. Evidence presented to

8550-496: Was found at the scene. In August 2010, nine leading doctors and forensic experts wrote to The Daily Telegraph calling for a full inquest, on the grounds that the cause of death claimed was extremely unlikely and had not been properly investigated by the Hutton Inquiry. Former Conservative party leader Michael Howard backed their call for an inquest. In June 2011, Attorney General Dominic Grieve ruled out applying to

8645-453: Was further developed during the mid-1960s by Richard Crossman as Leader of the House of Commons . The modern system of departmental select committees in the UK came into being in 1979, following the recommendations of a 1978 Procedure Select Committee report. It recommended the appointment of a series of select committees covering all the main departments of state, with wide terms of reference, and with power to appoint specialist advisers as

8740-498: Was only about a third of what would normally be fatal. Dr Rouse, a British epidemiologist wrote to the British Medical Journal offering his opinion that the act of committing suicide by severing the wrist arteries is an extremely rare occurrence in a 59-year-old man with no previous psychiatric history. In December 2010 The Times reported that Kelly had a rare abnormality in the arteries supplying his heart;

8835-540: Was paid for by them personally, not the BBC itself. Greg Dyke stood for brave, independent BBC journalism that was fearless in its search for the truth. We are resolute that the BBC should not step back from its determination to investigate the facts in pursuit of the truth. Through his passion and integrity Greg Dyke inspired us to make programmes of the highest quality and creativity. We are dismayed by Greg's departure, but we are determined to maintain his achievements and his vision for an independent organisation that serves

8930-488: Was serialised in the Daily Mail before publication in November 2007. In his book, Baker argued that Kelly did not commit suicide. Kelly's family expressed their displeasure at the publication; his sister-in-law said: "It is just raking over old bones. I can't speak for the whole family, but I've read it all [Baker's theories], every word, and I don't believe it." On 5 December 2009 six doctors began legal action to demand

9025-510: Was to blame. Select committee (United Kingdom) In British politics , parliamentary select committees are cross-party groups of MPs or Lords which investigate specific issues or scrutinise the work of the Government of the United Kingdom . They can be appointed from the House of Commons , from the House of Lords , or as a joint committee of Parliament drawn from both. Committees may be as "sessional" committees – i.e. be near-permanent – or as "ad-hoc" committees with

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