Judgement Day

It’s Burns Day and the news is that the British Government have tried to bury the facts about David Kelly’s death. Evidence relating to the death of David Kelly is reportedly to be kept secret for 70 years. This is shocking and disturbing news.  See This is London here – the BBC seem to have nothing on this. It was discovered this weekend that Lord Hutton, who chaired the inquiry into Dr Kelly’s death, ruled that medical records including the post-mortem report would remain classified for 70 years. A 30-year secrecy order has also been placed on written records provided to Lord Hutton’s inquiry which were not produced in evidence.

The waggons are circling. The British State is defending its own. This is highly unusual and must have some impact on the mundane Chilcot Inquiry.

An inquest into the death was suspended by then lord chancellor Lord Falconer, who ruled that Lord Hutton’s inquiry could take its place.

Doctors have accused the government of subverting the course of justice after it was revealed that evidence relating to the death of government weapons inspector Dr David Kelly is subject to a 70-year secrecy order. Dr Kelly’s body was found in woods close to his Oxfordshire home in 2003, shortly after it emerged that he had been the source of a BBC report casting doubt on the government’s claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

The Hutton report concluded that Dr Kelly had killed himself by cutting an artery in his wrist. But the finding has been challenged by doctors who claim that the weapons inspector’s stated injuries were not serious enough to have killed him. Former assistant coroner Michael Powers stated that he had seen a letter from the legal team of Oxfordshire County Council explaining the unusual restrictions placed by Lord Hutton on material relating to his inquiry.Former assistant coroner Michael Powers stated that he had seen a letter from the legal team of Oxfordshire County Council explaining the unusual restrictions placed by Lord Hutton on material relating to his inquiry.

He said: “Supposedly all evidence relevant to the cause of death has been heard in public at the time of Lord Hutton’s inquiry. If these secret reports support the suicide finding, what could they contain that could be so sensitive?”

Iain MacWhirter at the Sunday Herald is unambiguous: “Tony Blair has crossed the line; he is part of a discredited global financial elite who have made greed a virtue and turned social irresponsibility into philosophy of life. He was essentially a clever salesman who seized control of Labour in its darkest hour, all those years ago, and turned it into a vehicle for his own social self-advancement. He led Britain to economic disaster at home and military disaster abroad. He has learned nothing and understood nothing.” Read the full piece ‘The Man Who Killed Labour’ here.

In this spirit we’re glad to publicise news of STOP THE WARS COALITION‘s protest: THE PEOPLE’S VOICE ON BLAIR’S JUDGEMENT DAY.

On the day of Blair’s arrival at Chilcot novelist A.L Kennedy, former UK ambassador Craig Murray, Iraqi author Haifa Zangana, comedian and author Alexei Sayle and many more activists, artists and relatives of the bereaved will engage in a Naming the Dead ceremony. Labour and the British establishment must be held to account for this travesty of international justice.

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