Leaked to the The Independent: 135-page document accuses Alastair Campbell of misleading Parliament
BBC governors spurned their lawyers' advice that Lord Hutton's report was legally flawed and instead offered the fulsome apology that Downing Street demanded, it emerged last night. A 135-page confidential document, leaked to The Independent, accuses Alastair Campbell, the former Downing Street communications chief, of making "false" statements to Parliament over his role in drawing up the September 2002 dossier.The IndependentThe BBC's lawyers also suggested that Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, misled MPs over disquiet within the intelligence community over the dossier, the main plank in the Government's case for war. They go on to outline 12 main areas Lord Hutton ignored in his report, delivered eight days ago, and say his findings were "wrong" in law. The attack on Mr Campbell comes in a section headed "Misleading Parliament", which contrasts his evidence to Lord Hutton with his previous appearance before the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) last June, when he was questioned about his role in compiling the dossier that claimed Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction in 45 minutes.
The BBC report says: "Campbell falsely told the FAC that all the drafts on the 45-minute claim remained the same from the time they were first submitted to him. Campbell falsely told the FAC he had not suggested any change to the 45-minute claim. Campbell excluded that point in his memorandum to the FAC. Campbell also excluded other changes he suggested from his memorandum to the FAC. The only sensible conclusion was he was deliberately selective in what he disclosed to the FAC, despite having the original drafts in front of him."
Government documents released later to the inquiry, which began last August, showed Mr Campbell sought 15 changes to the draft of the dossier.
