Hutton report clears government and criticises BBC

Lord Hutton's report into the death of the government scientist Dr David Kelly has cleared the government of wrongdoing and strongly criticised the BBC.

The report was published on 28 January. Within hours, the chairman of the BBC, Gavyn Davies, had resigned.

The background

Dr Kelly, a weapons expert at the Ministry of Defence, was found dead near his Oxfordshire home in July last year. He had been named as the source of a BBC report by the journalist Andrew Gilligan.

The report, broadcast on the Today programme in May, claimed that the government had "sexed up" a dossier on Iraq's weapons, including the claim that Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes, and that the government probably knew the claim was wrong.

The findings

Lord Hutton concluded that Dr Kelly had taken his own life, and that no one could have foreseen it.

He found that the allegation that the government had inserted the 45-minute claim knowing it was probably wrong was unfounded. He said the BBC's editorial system was defective and that the corporation's management had failed to check Gilligan's report properly.

He also found that the government had not acted dishonestly in the way Dr Kelly's name became public, although he said the Ministry of Defence should have told him about its plans.

BBC turmoil

Gavyn Davies said he had resigned because he believed it was right to take responsibility. There is speculation about the future of the director general, Greg Dyke.

BBC staff have expressed support for their management, and some have criticised the report as one-sided.

Blair vindicated

The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, told the House of Commons that the report had cleared him of lying. He demanded that those who had accused him of deceit withdraw their claims.

The Conservative leader, Michael Howard, said questions remained about the intelligence used to justify the war.

The wider question

The inquiry did not examine whether the intelligence about Iraq's weapons was accurate. No weapons of mass destruction have yet been found in Iraq, and pressure is growing for a separate inquiry into the intelligence.

Many commentators have described the report as a "whitewash", while others say it is a thorough examination of the evidence.

Dr Kelly's family said they would study the report carefully.