Hoon's role in Kelly scandal revealed

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon made a remarkable offer to the BBC to unmask David Kelly as its key source days before the scientist's name became public, the Hutton inquiry heard today.

Mr Hoon wrote to BBC chairman Gavyn Davies offering the name if the corporation was prepared to "confirm or deny" it. Mr Davies replied: "We won't do that."

Days later, Mr Hoon tried again, this time officially naming David Kelly - but it was at this stage that the Ministry of Defence had confirmed the scientist's identity publicly.

The BBC still refused to confirm Kelly was their man, even though at this stage, 9 July, BBC Head of News Richard Sambrook knew that he was.

Mr Sambrook said today the BBC had gone on refusing to confirm Dr Kelly as the source until he died because it had "a duty of confidentiality to him".

Dramatic new evidence also emerged today of the worries and "unease" felt by scientist Dr David Kelly over the Government's key dossier on Iraqi weapons.

The inquiry into his death heard how, in a series of conversations with journalists, Dr Kelly pointed the finger at 10 Downing Street for exaggerating the Iraqi threat in its September 2002 document.

In today's evidence, Dr Kelly did not directly accuse No 10 communications director Alastair Campbell but suggested he believed he was responsible for the dossier being "sexed up".

Lord Hutton's inquiry heard that, at one point, Dr Kelly told BBC TV journalist Gavin Hewitt that "No10 spin came into play" with the dossier.

Hewitt said he never realised that Dr Kelly had been the source for Andrew Gilligan's controversial story. His story broadcast that night made no mention of Alastair Campbell.

"I was following my own agenda rather than seeking to establish what Andrew Gilligan had claimed was true," said Hewitt. "I wanted to establish whether officials such as Dr Kelly felt doubts about the dossier."

Later, as a major row between the Government and the BBC developed, he sent an email to Richard Sambrook saying he could name his contact if required but he only did so after Dr Kelly had been found dead.

In a conversation with Newsnight science editor Susan Watts, Dr Kelly accused the "No10 press office" of " seizing" on the controversial claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction ready to be fired within 45 minutes.

Asked by Watts if this meant Mr Campbell, Dr Kelly said he could not accuse Tony Blair's top aide directly but he added: "I think Alastair Campbell is synonymous with the No10 press office because he is responsible for it."

In dramatic scenes, the inquiry heard a tape recording of the final conversation between Watts and Dr Kelly on 30 May. A day earlier, defence correspondent Andrew Gilligan had broadcast his report about the "sexing up" of the dossier on Radio 4's Today programme.

Watts rang Dr Kelly to ask him if she had "missed something" from her previous conversations with the weapons expert - in which Mr Campbell's name was specifically mentioned. Today's evidence shows that Mr Campbell's name remains firmly in the spotlight amid the complex drama of claim and counterclaim.

Hewitt told the inquiry he had spoken to Dr Kelly on 29 May before his report on BBC1's main 10pm News programme about the row over weapons of mass destruction.

The first line of Hewitt's notes of the conversation read: "Dossier - No10 spin came into play."

In the crucial exchange on the Watts tape, she says: "OK, just back momentarily on the 45-minute issue ... I'm feeling like I ought to just explore that a little bit more with you. So would it be accurate, then, as you did in that earlier conversation, to say that it was Alastair Campbell himself who...?" Dr Kelly: "No, I can't. All I can say is the No 10 press office ... I've never met Alastair Campbell, so I can't..."

Watts: "They seized on that." Dr Kelly: "But ... I think Alastair Campbell is synonymous with that press office because he's responsible for it."

Dr Kelly told Watts he was "uneasy" with the claim in the dossier that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction which could be fired within 45 minutes.

He suggested the intelligence services shared his "concern" but added that unnamed senior figures in the Government were "desperate". The recording contrasted with earlier evidence provided by Gilligan, who told the inquiry Dr Kelly had claimed Mr Campbell was directly responsible.

As the 17-minute recording - much of it inaudible - was played to a hushed court, Dr Kelly sounded relaxed and chatty and was clearly on firstname terms with Watts. He appeared unaware of the storm which was set to engulf him and which led to his death last month after he was revealed as Gilligan's source.

The hearing also heard how Campbell bombarded the BBC with complaints about its coverage of the war in Iraq.