Form the London Observer
(Sunday supplement of the Guardian Unlimited)
Dated Sunday February 1
BBC dossier reveals fury at Hutton "flaws"
· QC outlines Dyke battle plan
· Hutton verdict 'wrong in law'
· Spy chief revealed WMD doubt
By Kamal Ahmed, political editor
The war between the BBC and the Government was re-ignited last night after a series of leaked documents revealed growing insistence within the corporation that there are fundamental flaws in Lord Hutton's report.
A confidential briefing document taking to task key findings by the Ulster judge reveals that executives throughout the BBC believe that the inquiry report was blatantly one-sided and took little account of the corporation's evidence.
As Tony Blair prepares to 'give some ground' on the issue of weapons of mass destruction at an appearance before a parliamentary committee of inquiry on Tuesday, the fresh evidence reveals that far from letting it drop, many senior executives want to continue the battle.
A second leaked document prepared by the BBC for Hutton also reveals crucial details of why executives stood by its controversial Today report, detailing a lunch between the head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, and Kevin Marsh, the editor of the Today programme.
In a witness statement prepared by Marsh and BBC legal representatives, it is claimed that Dearlove suggested that 'hard evidence of WMD in Iraq would never be found'.
Read more.
The Hutton Report hasn't been discredited yet. On the other hand, it's hard to find anyone outside of Tony Blair and his inner circle who believe it.