No. 10 plea to keep Iraq dossier secret is overruled

Ministers face having to release more details over the "sexed up" dossier which made the case for the invasion of Iraq.

The Information Commissioner Richard Thomas has rejected the Government's argument that publishing comments made about drafts of the dossier could jeopardise national security.

The Hutton inquiry into the death of scientist Dr David Kelly heard how former No10 spin chief Alastair Campbell put forward 11 changes to the document on Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).

But the Information Commissioner now says there is a public interest in revealing proposed alterations to the dossier made by politicians and other Downing Street officials between September 11 and 16 in 2002.

"Having considered the information which was withheld by the Cabinet Office, the commissioner is not satisfied that all of the comments on the draft dossier constituted information which engages the section 24 exemption (relating to national security)," Mr Thomas' office said in a 20-page ruling in response to a three-year campaign by journalist Chris Ames to obtain more memos and e-mails linked to the report.

The dossier, which included the claim that the Iraqi dictator could launch WMDs within 45 minutes, sparked a huge row between the BBC and the Government over claims that it had been "sexed up".

Dr Kelly, a biological weapons expert, committed suicide in July 2003 after being named as a source of a BBC story about the document. He was questioned by the Commons foreign affairs select committee over his role.

Mr Ames said: "The commissioner has laid bare the Government's farcical cover-up, which included shamelessly playing the national security card.
"He has also given a strong hint that the Government has concealed evidence of sexing-up to save political embarrassment."