Campbell expressed concern about the dossier |
The British Government should never have published its controversial second dossier on Iraq's weapons, Home Secretary David Blunkett has said.
He said reports on the document - widely criticised when it emerged part of it was copied from a US student's thesis - had turned into "the most absurd political story in the whole of my lifetime". His comments came as the government admitted it had written to the intelligence and security services admitting there were failings in February's dossier, the second on Iraq. A Downing Street spokesman said Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's director of communications, had told the agencies "far greater care" would be taken in dealing with anything which might impact on their reputation and work. | Two Iraq dossiers Sept 2002: claimed Iraq had a continuing programme of chemical and biological weapons and had tried to acquire nuclear material from Africa Feb 2003: drawn from a number of sources, but labelled "dodgy dossier" because parts plagiarised from 12-year-old thesis |
Number 10 has denied Mr Campbell's intervention amounts to an apology. But veteran Labour MP Tam Dalyell, who vehemently opposed war on Iraq, said it was "the first proof of how badly the government handled intelligence on the basis of which we went to war". The prime minister is under increasing pressure over the way the government made the case for war in Iraq, with coalition forces yet to find weapons of mass destruction. Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett said that she did not think the row over dossiers released by the government were the central issue in post-Saddam Iraq. She said that with "all the difficulties" things were a "great deal better" without the Iraqi dictator and that people were "fed up" with journalists trawling through the details of what the government said. 'Smoking gun' The Conservatives have repeatedly called for an independent inquiry into whether intelligence documents were changed on the orders of Downing Street to strengthen the case for military action. Meanwhile, intelligence officers are holding a "smoking gun" showing they came under pressure for evidence to use against Iraq in the run-up to the conflict, it is reported. The Independent on Sunday said intelligence services were so concerned about demands made by Downing Street they kept detailed records of communications with the prime minister's staff. | Security bosses were told procedures would be tightened |
Mr Blunkett told BBC One's The Politics Show: "I think it would be better if we hadn't published that dossier because it was about the background to Iraq - it wasn't about the identification of weapons of mass destruction. "I think it was just an honest appraisal by Alastair Campbell, and I think we should draw a line under what has now become the most absurd political story in the whole of my lifetime... "The truth is the people of Iraq are freed from a tyrant." Robin Cook, who resigned as Commons leader over the war, said it would be "grotesquely unfair" if Mr Campbell was made a scapegoat over the government's use of intelligence information on Iraq. Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith told the BBC's Breakfast with Frost programme Mr Blair's credibility was "on the line". Committees' inquiries But Chancellor Gordon Brown insisted that "the evidence and history will prove that Tony Blair made a courageous and the right decision over Iraq". "I believe that all countries, when we passed the UN resolution... believed that there were and are weapons of mass destruction," he told the programme. The second dossier, entitled Iraq: Its Infrastructure of Concealment, Deception and Intimidation, was distributed to journalists on Mr Blair's trip to Washington to discuss plans for war. The Sunday Telegraph claims it was not first cleared by the Joint Intelligence Committee before being published. That committee approved the first dossier, published in September, which is now subject to an inquiry by the Commons foreign affairs select committee. The Intelligence and Security Committee is also investigating that report, which the government denies was doctored in order to muster support for war. | 
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Campbell expressed concern about the dossier
Security bosses were told procedures would be tightened