It looks as though my
prediction of a few weeks ago may be about to come to fruition. Then I wondered that as 'LibDem Norman Baker has been appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport.... will be being in government get him any closer to the suppressed papers about the death of Dr David Kelly, an issue that has obsessed him for quite some time?'
Today I see that
Melanie Phillips writes:
'The death of the former Iraq weapons inspector Dr David Kelly seven years ago caused a political firestorm that profoundly destabilised the Blair government.
Dr Kelly was found dead in the woods near his home after he had been named as the source of an explosive BBC report that claimed the Government had 'sexed up' the evidence that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.
In the high-profile inquiry chaired by Lord Hutton into the circumstances surrounding Dr Kelly's death, the one thing that was never queried was the premise that he had committed suicide. This was taken as read, and many believed his 'outing' had driven him to take his own life.
Yet now the new Attorney-General Dominic Grieve has let it be known that he may order an inquiry to look again at the assumption that Dr Kelly died by his own hand. At the same time, the Justice Secretary Ken Clarke is said to be considering a request to release the medical files relating to the scientist's death.
This is all very much to be welcomed as potentially shedding light on an intensely controversial event that has grown ever more murky as the years have rolled on.
It was especially puzzling, for example, that, as was revealed earlier this year, Lord Hutton quietly ensured the evidence relating to Dr Kelly's death was to remain a classified state secret until 2073.
Given that Dr Kelly had been closely involved in the most sensitive of intelligence work, it would not be surprising if certain evidence given to the inquiry in closed session was to be kept secret in order not to compromise security sources.
But Lord Hutton went much further than this and classified all the medical and scientific records connected with Dr Kelly's death, the post mortem report and photographs of his body.
This inexplicable secrecy can excite only suspicion that the authorities have something very bad indeed to hide. So an inquiry would be welcome if it kills off such speculation.'
Melanie Phillips goes on to remind us of Norman Baker's interest and work on this case and that:
'Those behind the campaign to reconsider the suicide verdict are a group of doctors who have looked at the available evidence and decided that it just doesn't stack up. The points they make are compelling - so much so that Mr Grieve has commended them for making 'an impressive and cogent case'.
For example, Dr Kelly was said to have killed himself by severing the ulnar artery in his left wrist with a blunt gardening knife, along with swallowing some 29 Coproxamol painkiller tablets.
Reputation
He was said to have died either from haemorrhaging blood or a combination of cutting his wrist and taking the overdose.
But the doctors pointed out that virtually no blood was found near his body - and his stomach contained merely a fraction of one Coproxamol tablet.
Moreover, severing the ulnar artery was a very odd way to commit suicide since, they said, it was of match-stick thickness and difficult to access.'
I do not know what really happened to Dr David Kelly but there seems to be far more to the case than the verdict of suicide that was arrived at.
The following passage should be enough to alert even the non-conspiracy theory lovers:
'Mr Baker, who has a ferocious reputation for digging out politically uncomfortable truths, claimed that the police operation to investigate Dr Kelly's death had started around nine hours before the weapons expert was reported missing.'
So will this investigation open the door on any unsavoury goings-on in and around Number 10 before, during and/or after Dr Kelly's death? We shall see...
