§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President on 23 February (WA 2) which part of the Prime Minister's statement to the House of Commons on 28 January makes clear the reason why he decided to establish the Hutton inquiry; and whether the reason was to secure the withdrawal of an accusation against the Prime Minister. [HL1531]
§ The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor (Lord Falconer of Thoroton)The terms of reference for Lord Hutton's Inquiry were: "urgently to conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr Kelly". However, as the Prime Minister said in his Statement to the other place on 28 January (Official Report col. 337), it was also right to establish such an inquiry, as allegations had been made that went to the heart of the integrity of government, of our intelligence services and of the PM personally.