‘Fall guy’ Hoon awaits his fate
Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon’s days appear numbered in Government, according to a number of press reports.
At PMQs yesterday, Tony Blair was forced to deny accusations that No 10 leaked the Intelligence and Security Committee’s report a day before its publication.
The ISC report is expected today to criticise Mr Hoon for his “misleading” and “unhelpful” advice before the Hutton Inquiry into the apparent suicide of Dr David Kelly, the “mole” in the BBC report that Downing Street “sexed up” the September weapons dossier to bolster the case for war against Iraq.
At PMQs, Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith called on the PM to stop leaving Mr Hoon “twisting in the wind.”
In good form, Mr Duncan Smith called on the premier to publish the ISC report immediately. The leaked report itself was another “nail in the coffin of the Blair administration.”
“The lying and spinning won’t stop until we get rid of this Prime Minister,” he shouted across the Commons.
Mr Blair said protocol ought to be observed.
Mr Duncan Smith told MPs: “You can get rid of Alastair Campbell and even the Defence Secretary but the lying and the spinning won’t stop until you get rid of this Prime Minister.”
Mr Duncan Smith mentioned The Evening Standard story on the ISC report that reportedly criticises Mr Hoon and exonerates Alastair Campbell, the PM’s ex-chief director of communications.
The report is expected to say that the claim that Iraq could launch lethal weapons within 45 minutes should never have been included in the dossier.
According to friends, Mr Hoon has already accepted he will be made the Government’s “fall guy” for the Dr Kelly scandal.
Others such as Labour MP Fabian Hamilton have said he will be the “sacrificial lamb” to get the PM and his aides off the hook.
The Scotsman is running the headline today “Hoon left damaged beyond repair” and The Independent says the ISC leak leaves Mr Hoon “at the precipice.”
