The Hutton Enquiry is over, and the verdict is in. It seems to be that the blame is predominantly pinned upon the BBC. The result? Greg Dyke, a particularly effective and smart guy has quit.
I was going to get annoyed and depressed about this, and about how Tony Blair appears to have got away from the whole thing without any blame. And then I heard on the news that after all this, only 16% of people trust Tony. Hopefully he won’t be around for much longer.
Update: A poll on Question Time got over 20,000 participants. 18% say Greg Dyke should have resigned. 82% say he should not.
Updated Update: More stuff via Jeremy:
- Hutton has created a political smokescreen behind which Blair is seeking to distract the British public from the harsh reality that his government went to war based on unsustained allegations that have yet to be backed up with a single piece of substantive fact. – ‘The public must look to what is missing from the report’
- 45% of voters believe the prime minister lied over his claim that he did not authorise the leaking of Dr Kelly’s name – New poll reveals public mistrust
And finally, I bring you this bagelbellyblog exclusive: a shocking BBC coverup of the whole Hutton affair:
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Hmm, I think I have to disagree with you
The BBC got criticised because their reporter was thoroughly in the wrong, and they wouldn’t retract the story, or investigate properly whether or not it was sound. The Hutton Report couldn’t have reached any other conclusion, because those are the facts – I do wonder whether or not many of the people criticising it have actually read it, or are relying on the various tabloids to form their opinion for them.
Dr. Kelly’s own words about the dossier, “I don’t think they’re being wilfully dishonest I think they just think that that’s the way the public will appreciate it best”, tells you what problem he expressed: making the language clear lost the subtlety of the phraseology. Gilligan’s report was that intelligence sources were unhappy with the dossier, which is patent bollocks. Kelly believed WMD existed (which they did/do; the Iraqis admitted to having them, Kelly actually wanted _more_ in the dossier about WMD [smallpox]), after all, and Susan Watts (whose story was based in fact) was also unscathed.
What is more interesting during all this: because Hutton delivered the “wrong answer”, people hate the Government for it. Rather than read a factual report written by an independent Law Lord, who took time to depose a lot of evidence and present it in a considered fashion, people pre-judged the answer and were dismayed when the facts didn’t fit. Politically, that’s a terrible state to be in: like the Church believing the Sun circles the Earth, people’s faith is unshakeable in the face of any fact. His leadership cannot last more than a few more months – how long will depend on the contents of the budget, I believe – and whether or not the Government will survive is now in doubt. Considering the size of their majority, if the Government did not get re-elected we would be seeing possibly the biggest swing in electoral history. That’s almost revolutionary, baby.
Have you sent this to NTK?