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12-09-2003 Scotsman Hoon survives - but not for long Analysis By Gethin Chamberlain : Diplomatic correspondent SO NOW we know: Geoff Hoon did not lie to the intelligence and security committee (ISC) when he failed to let on that members of the intelligence community were worried about the government's dossier on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. He was just being a little misleading. We know this because Mr Hoon and the committee chairman, Ann Taylor, say so. Neither of them sees any need for the defence secretary to resign. On a day of high drama, a day many thought would be Mr Hoon's last in government, he managed to wriggle off the hook - yet again. Mr Hoon's critics, however, believe that his time is almost up. He may not have been caught lying, but yet again he has been more economical with the truth than those examining his conduct would have liked. It has been a tough year for Mr Hoon, the former MEP who rose without a trace to find himself at the head of one of the most important departments in government. Even before the war started, he was in trouble, facing stinging criticism for taking his family off on a skiing holiday while British forces sat waiting in the sands of Kuwait. When the dossier row first broke, it did not take long for him to be dragged in. The death of Dr David Kelly, the government weapons inspector, brought new problems. After initially claiming he had nothing to do with the decision to make Dr Kelly's name public, his story began to unravel. In front of the Hutton Inquiry, he played down his role in the naming strategy, but the evidence told another story. Mr Hoon had been at one of the key meetings at which the strategy was discussed. He now faces being recalled by the inquiry to explain why he failed to share this information with Lord Hutton at the first opportunity. Now, he has been caught out by a second inquiry. Yesterday, Mr Hoon told the Commons he had "no intention whatsoever other than to be open and straightforward" with the ISC. "I regret any misunderstanding," he said, but his critics were not convinced. Unlike the open and transparent Hutton Inquiry, the full details of what Mr Hoon told the committee are not available. Instead, those interested in finding out how Mr Hoon dealt with questions about concerns within the intelligence community will have to read between the lines of an ISC report. According to the committee, it was "disturbing" Mr Hoon did not tell them everything he knew about concerns among defence intelligence staff with regard to the September dossier. Why he did not do so is not clear: evidence presented to the Hutton Inquiry states quite clearly he had been briefed on those concerns before appearing before the committee, and had been advised to pass on that information to the committee, while at the same time attempting to play it down. Whatever he chose to do instead, the committee was not impressed. Ms Taylor described his evidence as "potentially misleading". However, instead of calling for his resignation, she pulled her punches: "He did not tell us lies," she said. "It was potentially misleading, events overtook it. We got the information in the end." Why she chose to go easy on Mr Hoon is not certain, but perhaps the Defence Secretary's fellow Labour MP had more insight into the production of the dossier than most. After all, she was shown the dossier in the days before it was published and invited to make comment. E-mails released by the Hutton Inquiry yesterday show she made several suggestions about changes that could be made, including the need to address the question of why Saddam Hussein had been singled out at that particular point in time. Whatever her reasons, there was intense disappointment on the opposition benches that, having apparently cornered Mr Hoon, the Labour-dominated committee let him go. Bernard Jenkin, the shadow defence secretary, went so far as to suggest it was time to rethink the practice of allowing MPs to investigate such matters. "No committee in this House can carry out the kind of impartial and forensic cross-examination that we have seen in Lord Hutton's inquiry," he said. "No committee in this House can reach impartial conclusions that are properly insulated from the party-political battle in order to command the public support that is so necessary." Mr Jenkin and his party leader, Iain Duncan Smith, have good reason to be annoyed. If Mr Hoon were to have fallen on his sword yesterday, it would have left the government looking around for a new scapegoat for when the Hutton Inquiry publishes its report. "It is absolutely clear that Geoff Hoon's position is quite untenable," said Mr Duncan Smith. "Either he should resign or the Prime Minister should dismiss him at once." But Mr Blair is clearly not ready to shove his colleague overboard just yet. His spokesman said Mr Blair continued to have confidence in Mr Hoon. "He continues to do an effective job," he said.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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