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Hutton: key questions 'remain unanswered'

KENT MPs have been delivering their verdict on the Hutton report as the fallout from its findings continues.

Faversham and Mid Kent Conservative MP Hugh Robertson said that while he accepted Lord Hutton’s conclusions, the report “clearly raised other issues outside his remit".

He stressed: “Long after the Hutton inquiry has been forgotten, people will still want answers to questions about why we went to war. His findings do raise questions about the way intelligence was gathered.

"It is very clear that while there may not have been political interference in this instance, there was the potential for the Joint Intelligence Committee to put a political interpretation on what it was doing."

Sir John Stanley, the Conservative MP for Tonbridge and Malling, was among MPs who quizzed both Dr David Kelly and BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan.

He said the report reinforced his view that the Government had become too closely involved in the presentation of intelligence material.

“The relationship has become too close in my view. Changes definitely need to be made about the way intelligence meetings are held. They should not be chaired as they were, by Alastair Campbell.”

He said questions about whether the Government went to war on a “false prospectus” still had not been answered.

“The key question is whether the Government took the country to war on intelligence which was factually based,” he added.

Today the BBC's director general Greg Dyke resigned as the corportation's crisis deepened in the wake of Lord Hutton's report.

Mr Dyke's decision to step down follows BBC chairman Gavyn Davies' resignation on Wednesday, shortly after the law lord's report was published.

Mr Dyke said he hoped their departures meant "a line can be drawn under this whole episode".

Earlier Sittingbourne and Sheppey Labour MP Derek Wyatt, a member of the Commons media select committee, said he expected more resignations from the BBC.

He stressed: “I think the governors chose the wrong battle to fight. They should be contesting the issue of the BBC’s charter renewal and I think Hutton’s findings will weaken them. I think more governors should resign and I believe some journalists will too."

On the Government’s treatment of Dr Kelly, he said: “We hung him out to dry and that was a contributory factor to his death. No civil servant should ever have to come to a select committee without his minister in attendance.”

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