Campbell: I'll **** Gilligan

Alastair Campbell recorded in his private diaries how he hoped to "f*** Gilligan" by exposing weapons expert David Kelly as his source.

Sensational new evidence to the Hutton Inquiry today revealed that Mr Campbell and Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon agreed in a private phone conversation a plan to unmask details of the mole, if not his name.

It was intended to do massive damage to Andrew Gilligan, the BBC reporter at the heart of the Iraq weapons row.

The first entry from the No10 communications director's diary, dated 4 July, reads "spoke to H [Hoon], who said that a man had come forward who felt he was probably G's source. Had come forward and was being interviewed today. GH said his immediate instinct was to throw the book at him but in fact there was a case for trying to get some kind of plea bargaining.

"Says that he had come forward and he was saying Yes to speaking to AG [Gilligan], yes he said intel [intelligence] went in late, but he never said the other stuff.

"It was double-edged but GH and I agreed it would f*** G if that was his source. He said he was an expert rather than a spy or full-time official. GH and I agreed to talk tomorrow."

The evidence looks likely to heap new criticism on Mr Campbell for waging a highly personal war against the broadcasters.

It also reveals that he and Mr Hoon were keen to put Dr Kelly under the spotlight but were restrained by the Prime Minister.

The entry for 6 July says "GH and I both wanted to get the source up but TB was nervous about it ... GH like me wanted to get it out but the source had broken cover to claim that AG misreported him."

The entry continues by saying that "TB and I had a long chat about it".

Mr Blair, says Campbell, felt that either he or Mr Hoon should inform the Commons foreign affairs committee, then nearing the end of its own inquiry on Iraq, that someone had come forward.

Two further diary entries by Mr Campbell also laid graphically bare the lengths to which the outgoing communications director was prepared to go to be able to proclaim a victory in his battle with the BBC.

On 5 July Mr Campbell wrote of his "desire for a win and not a draw" - thought to be a reference to the likely outcome of the foreign affairs committee hearings.

On 6 July Mr Campbell discloses he had "spent much of the weekend talking to TB and GH" about the Kelly affair. These references to Tony Blair and Geoff Hoon showed the intensity of the discussions going on about the affair right at the top of the Government.

The entry continues: "His worry was that it could lead to them reopening the inquiry. He wanted and GH did to get it to the BBC Governors that we may know who the source was. That he was not a spy not involved in the WMD (weapons of mass destruction) dossier and was a WMD expert who advised departments.

"TB was fine about that but backed off speaking to Omand (Director of Intelligence in the Cabinet Office).

He felt the guy had to be treated properly and interviewed again. GH and I felt we were missing a trick. I suggested to GH to speak to TB to try to persuade him we should do this."

The diary dramatically exposes Mr Blair's close involvement right from the start of the Kelly affair. But it suggests that the Prime Minister was the restraining influence with Mr Campbell and Mr Hoon tugging at the leash.

The extracts from Mr Campbell's diaries were flashed up on screen at Lord Hutton's inquiry into David Kelly's death for the first time today. Counsel for the inquiry, James Dingemans QC, said Mr Campbell had been warned that the entries were set to be publicly revealed.

Mr Dingemans described the diary entries as "fast and pretty unpolished" and said they had "not been written for publication or indeed for anyone other than Mr Campbell to see."

Earlier today Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon denied that he was part of a Government-wide "conspiracy" to unmask Dr Kelly.

But in an extraordinary clash with counsel for the Kelly family, he conspicuously failed to acquit 10 Downing Street of the same charge.

Challenged by Jeremy Gompertz QC over the charge of a calculated strategy to expose Dr Kelly as the mole who gave information to the BBC, Mr Hoon replied: "Certainly, as far as I was concerned, there was no such conspiracy".

Told by Mr Gompertz: "The name was leaked, was it not?" Mr Hoon replied: "Not by me".

Lord Hutton himself intervened to ask: "Is your evidence that - whatever may have been in the minds of other people - you were unaware of this strategy and you were not aware that this information would come out ... is that what you were saying?"

Mr Hoon replied: "That is exactly my position."

The Defence Secretary also declared that there was "not a shred of evidence" that the Government as a whole had decided Dr Kelly's name should be leaked to aid its battle with the BBC. But his carefully-worded replies on the detail looked certain to alarm - and anger - No10.

Mr Hoon denied to Mr Gompertz that either the Government or the MoD had done anything wrong in their handling of Dr Kelly.

He said: "I can see that there may be judgments about the precise timing of particular decisions - the precise point at which those decisions had an effect - which are within what I would describe as the reasonable range of judgments that people can take when confronted with these situations.

"But if you mean were any of those outside the reasonable range of judgment, so far out as to be wrong, then ... no, I don't believe so."

Mr Hoon - his Cabinet job on the line as never before - confirmed that it was the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, who had suggested that the BBC be challenged directly over whether Dr Kelly was the source for their charge that Downing Street had "sexed up" the dossier on Iraq's weapons.

But he insisted that revealing the name in a confidential letter to Gavyn Davies, chairman of the BBC governors, did not conflict with his aim to protect Dr Kelly's identity.

To increasingly incredulous questions from Mr Gompertz, Mr Hoon maintained that he had been concerned at all times for the welfare of the weapons scientist, who died, apparently by suicide, shortly after his appearance in front of two Commons committees.

The Defence Secretary conceded that he had been involved in the question-and-answer briefing prepared by the MoD press office to deal with queries from journalists.