Hutton Inquiry Flawed says MP

The publication of Lord Hutton's report last week has left unanswered some of the most important questions about the war with Iraq, says Neil Gerrard, Labour MP for Walthamstow.

"Because Lord Hutton was only asked to look at the issues surrounding the death of Dr David Kelly he did not examine some of the major questions about the decision to go to war with Iraq" says Mr Gerrard. "Whether the claim that Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction in 45 minutes was or was not inserted into the Government's dossier against the wishes of the Intelligence Services, the fact remains that the claim that Iraq even possessed such weapons is looking more and more threadbare, and that is what should be looked at."

"One fundamental question is how Intelligence Services came to believe reports that Iraq was still developing weapons at all. There must be serious questions about why these reports were accepted, and became the basis for war."

"I believe we should also beware of believing that the way to get to the truth about a complex issue is to have a public inquiry headed by a single judge. This is not the first time the report of such an inquiry has caused controversy. We ought to think very carefully before setting up an inquiry in this form in the future."

February 2004

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