VERY BRITISH SEX SCANDAL

BBC under fire as it admits Dr Kelly was source (Lisa O'Carroll, July 20, 2003, The Observer)

The BBC's credibility was called into question today after the corporation named David Kelly as the BBC's main source for Andrew Gilligan's Iraq dossier story which sparked the ferocious row with the government.

In a statement, the director of news Richard Sambrook revealed that the Ministry of Defence microbiologist, who committed suicide on Friday, was the principle source for reports that intelligence on Iraq was "sexed up". [...]

The effect of the statement was to immediately shift focus from Tony Blair and onto the BBC with several politicians lining up to call for resignations at the top of the corporation.

Within an hour of the statement, a series of politicians casts further doubt on the report by defence correspondent Andrew Gilligan and questioned whether he had hyped up the conversation with the Iraqi weapons inspector.

Dr Kelly's local MP, Tory Robert Jackson, said BBC Chairman Gavyn Davies should go and director general Greg Dyke should "consider his position" while Gerald Kaufman warned that the latest development raised "serious questions" about the future of the BBC as a licence-funded organisation.

Both believe that the confirmation that Dr Kelly was their source clears Alastair Campbell.

"This raises extremely serious questions about the way the BBC is run; its credibility and its future as a public sector, publicly funded organisation," said Mr Kaufman.

He said it was vital to know whether the BBC chairman Gavyn Davies knew the identity of the source and if he did he would have known that he was too junior to have been responsible for the claim under dispute - that Alastair Campbell had "sexed up" the Iraq dossier.

Robert Jackson launched a scathing attacked on the BBC - he accused Gilligan of "sexing up" his own report and says the reporter is partly to blame for Dr Kelly's death.

And they thought our Clinton sex scandal was about a trivial matter. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 20, 2003 4:53 PM