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30-8-2003 Scotsman Campbell resignation: Government called in MI5 to hunt for BBC's source By Gethin Chamberlain Defence Correspondent THE government was so desperate to find out who was the source of damaging BBC stories that it called in MI5 to carry out an unofficial investigation, documents released to the Hutton Inquiry revealed yesterday. An investigator from the security service's T3 section was drafted in to try to establish who was leaking information to the BBC, a move which meant that an embarrassing formal inquiry could be avoided. The documents reveal that this course of action had been used before by 10 Downing Street. But the latest batch of about 150 documents released by Lord Hutton's inquiry also shed light on concerns within the BBC about the row with the government. A letter from the BBC chairman Gavyn Davies, to the BBC board of governors, talked of the row placing the corporation under "unprecedented strains" and raises the possibility of a review of the corporation's reporting methods. The possibility of using MI5 to root out the mole was raised in a memo to John Scarlett, the chairman of the joint intelligence committee, from an unnamed individual described as the head of security policy division (SPD). It said: "You may also wish to consider the option of assistance from the security service. I have had informal discussions with the head of T3 who may be able to offer an investigator to take an initial view of what has occurred without the need to formally announce an inquiry. This has been done before, including with No 10 and offers an attractive way into the problem." The subsequent investigation stopped short of interrogating suspects. Instead, MI5 examined BBC reports and other intelligence material to narrow down the field, concluding that they were looking for an "expert on current and recent past Iraq weapons systems". That description closely fitted Dr David Kelly, a former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq and the government's leading expert on Iraqi chemical and biological warfare programmes. The MI5 investigation - carried out by the agency's T3 section - was authorised by the Cabinet Office intelligence and security co-ordinator Sir David Omand and Mr Scarlett, who had noted in a memo, dated 4 June, that it was "not clear that it would be useful or wise" to institute a full-scale leak inquiry involving an outside investigator. The discreet MI5 investigation was the preferred option. At the same time T3 was also asked to investigate the leak of a memorandum from Mr Scarlett to Downing Street communications chief Alastair Campbell to a Sunday newspaper. The documents also showed how sensitive the investigation into Dr Kelly was seen to be in Whitehall, with only the most senior figures involved. A note from the head of the SPD to Mr Scarlett said: "MoD security colleagues yesterday were indicating that the Kelly issue was being handled at a very senior level in MoD and they were not involved at present in any formal investigation. We are currently not in the loop on this aspect of the leaks." But while the government was fretting about the identity of the BBC's source, the BBC was examining its own conduct. A letter from Mr Davies, the BBC chairman, to the governors dealt with a number of questions, including whether the governors should re-examine the style of BBC news reporting, especially in the realm of investigative journalism rather than reporting the news. Mr Davies wrote: "I will be guided by all of you on this question. "I am sure that there is a general desire among governors to look again at the general style of BBC news reporting, and the question of training and maintaining standards, as well as the question of writing articles for outside newspapers. "We can come to this once the current firestorm has died down." And he added: "This extraordinary series of events has put unprecedented strains on the BBC, its governance and its management. I continue to believe that our structures have survived very well under intense pressure." One document released yesterday appeared to offer a few crumbs of comfort for Mr Campbell, supporting his assertion that he was not responsible for changing the dossier against the wishes of the intelligence community.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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