The Hutton Inquiry Day 1

Daily Mail

The first day of Lord Hutton's inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly revealed splits in the intelligence services over the Prime Minister's dossier on Iraq.

The inquiry also heard a former colleague describe Dr Kelly as a 'superb' scientist and an appraisal dubbed him 'the UK expert' on Iraq's weapons.

Here are the main findings from Day 1 of the Hutton Inquiry:

  • Two intelligence officers formally complained about Downing Street's dossier on Iraqi weapons.

  • They doubted the "level of certainty" with which No 10 claimed weapons could be launched in 45 minutes.

  • One officer said there was "a lot of spin" behind Government claims over 20 missing tons of biological growth agents.

  • Government attempts to belittle Dr Kelly's role in tatters - hearing is told he is the "expert of choice" on Saddam's arsenal.

  • MoD decided to name Dr Kelly as the BBC source if journalists put his name to them.

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