Scarlett MI6 row draws in Hutton and Campbell
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Your support makes all the difference.The row over the appointment of John Scarlett as head of MI6 is to escalate this week when Alastair Campbell and Lord Hutton are questioned by MPs.
The row over the appointment of John Scarlett as head of MI6 is to escalate this week when Alastair Campbell and Lord Hutton are questioned by MPs.
The decision to appoint Mr Scarlett, who was responsible for the Government's dossier on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, caused an outcry last week. Michael Howard, the Tory leader, accused Tony Blair of pre-empting the outcome of the investigation into intelligence failures in the run-up to the Iraq conflict.
Mr Campbell, who described Mr Scarlett as his "mate" during the Hutton inquiry, is to be questioned further about their relationship. Downing Street's former communications chief has reluctantly agreed to appear before the Public Administration Select Committee on Tuesday.
Lord Hutton, meanwhile, is expected to publicly defend for the first time his report into the death of David Kelly, the government weapons expert, when he appears before the same body on Thursday.
His inquiry, which was revealed last week to have cost £2.54m, was widely condemned as a whitewash after it largely cleared the Government of wrongdoing. He was reported to be "deeply unhappy" at the reaction to his report, which led to the resignations of both Gavyn Davies and Greg Dyke from the BBC.
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