Minister who investigated death of weapons inspector David Kelly calls for him to be awarded a knighthood_Nhy
An ex-government minister who investigated the death of weapons inspector David Kelly has called for him to be awarded a posthumous honour.
Former Lib Dem MP Norman Baker believes the scientist should get a knighthood for his work on the biological weapons threat from Russia and Iraq.
He said Dr Kelly had been considered for the honour before his death, and that his work had made the world a safer place.
The former transport minister, whose book The Strange Death Of David Kelly has been updated, also called for an inquest to be held into the weapons inspector’s death, which shocked Britain more than two decades ago.
Dr Kelly, 59, was at the centre of a row between the BBC and Tony Blair‘s Labour government over claims that No10 ‘sexed up’ a dossier on Iraq’s weapons capability.
After he was named as a source for a BBC report – as Mr Blair was making a case for Britain to join the US in a war in Iraq – he was hauled before MPs to give evidence.
Days later, on July 18, 2003, his body was found in woodland near his home in Oxfordshire after he apparently took his own life.
Mr Baker has investigated claims Dr Kelly was murdered or assassinated because of his role in the ‘dodgy dossier’ row or his work as a weapons inspector in Iraq.
An ex-government minister who investigated the death of weapons inspector David Kelly (pictured) has called for him to be awarded a posthumous honour
Dr Kelly was at the centre of a row between the BBC and Tony Blair ‘s Labour government over claims that No10 ‘sexed up’ a dossier on Iraq’s weapons capability. Pictured: Tony Blair with George Bush in 2007
Former Lib Dem MP Norman Baker (pictured) believes scientist David Kelly should get a knighthood for his work on the biological weapons threat from Russia and Iraq
He said ‘basic questions’ over the death remained, and the Government-commissioned Hutton Inquiry was ‘a travesty’.
It found Dr Kelly committed suicide. Critics of the Hutton Inquiry claim it failed to fully examine how Dr Kelly died, including the official cause of death.
Three medical experts have said publicly that it was ‘highly improbable’ he bled to death from a self-inflicted wound to his wrist. Questions also remain over why no fingerprints were found on the knife he apparently used, and why only a non-toxic amount of the painkiller coproxamol was found in his system when he appeared to have taken a large dose.
Mr Baker has now called for ‘a properly constituted and openly accountable coroner’s inquest’, adding: ‘We owe it to a good man to set aside the farce of a process that occurred under Lord Hutton and create a new process that inspires public confidence and examines the matter of his death officially, openly and honestly, and with the rigour that people in this country are entitled to expect.’
Mr Baker said: ‘Government documents show that in May 2003 he was rightly being considered for a knighthood in recognition of the superb work he had done to help eliminate the biological weapons threat posed by Russia and Iraq, and much more besides.
‘That honour should now be awarded posthumously in recognition for all Dr Kelly achieved for this country and for the world.’
Dr Kelly was a weapons inspector in Iraq between 1991 and 1998, following the first Gulf War, and was nominated for a Nobel peace prize. He spent most of his career as a consultant on arms control for the Ministry of Defence and other government departments.
Mr Baker said: ‘It is no exaggeration to say that between 1990 and his death, Dr Kelly probably did more to make the world a more secure place than anyone else on the planet. It is not too late to pay proper respects.’
