Monday 11 August 2003

First Kelly Inquiry Witness to Attack No 10

When you were a kid and neglected to show the proper respect chances are you'd get a clip round the ear from your old man. We have here a government that has no respect for the loss and grief of a family robbed of one of its members. Blair has shown himself beneath contempt, I don't just mistrust him now, I loathe the man. You simply cannot treat people with this little respect, while Phony Tony is sunning himself on his free holiday do you think he's sparing any thoughts for the widow of David Kelly who, at this moment, is enduring the most hellish experience known to humanity - the loss of a beloved partner. Believe me I know, I've been down that road - I'm still down that fucking road and every damned day brings moments where you wish that you were the one who were dead. For the government to whom I pay taxes, and supposedly represents me, to turn round and try and smear a brave and honest public servant is lower than even the Pits of Shyte where Spinmeister Campbell regularly fills the airwaves with his putrid bile.

The first witness at today's David Kelly inquiry will say the weapons expert was tough and cool under pressure - smashing Downing Street's "Walter Mitty" smear.

Testimony to Dr Kelly's character will come from former army colonel Terry Taylor, a director of the International Institute of Strategic Studies. Both worked in Iraq, where Dr Kelly was a United Nations inspector and a key to uncovering biological weapons.

A further attempt to besmirch Dr Kelly was revealed yesterday. Top MoD civil servant Sir Kevin Tebbit allegedly told a BBC reporter that Dr Kelly - found with a slashed wrist last month - was "weird" and "eccentric".

Mr Taylor, speaking in advance of Lord Hutton's London hearings, said the apparent suicide was "way out of character for a man I had seen cope with extreme pressures so well".

He added: "During my 15 years of friendship, and 10 years in the most difficult and trying circumstances together battling the Iraqis, I have always admired him for his coolness and his measured approach.

"He certainly didn't flap under pressure, he was a model of how to conduct yourself in tense situations."

Mr Taylor will claim that he and Dr Kelly - outed as a BBC source for its "sexing up" claims over an Iraq dossier - had "tacit permission" from the Government to brief the media.

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