British Prime Minister Tony Blair was forced onto the defensive on Wednesday when he admitted that he would have to resign as prime minister if he lied to the British parliament over his role in the naming of the UK government scientist and weapons inspector, David Kelly, in the row over a UK government dossier on Iraq.
As Lord Hutton warned Britain's political classes against jumping to conclusions ahead of the publication of his report into the circumstances leading up to the death of Kelly, the British prime minister said he "of course" accepted that ministers who mislead members of parliament have to quit.
Blair's remarks came after the UK Opposition leader, Michael Howard, all but accused the prime minister of lying days after the death of Kelly. In their first House of Commons clash of the new year Howard asked Blair whether he stood by his statement of July 22, made on board a flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong, that he had "emphatically" not leaked the name of Kelly.
Howard believes the prime minister's declaration may be highly damaging after Sir Kevin Tebbit, the permanent secretary at the UK Ministry of Defence, told the Hutton inquiry in October that Blair chaired the key meetings during the "naming strategy" -- the convoluted process which led to the confirmation of the scientist's name. "Either the permanent secretary or the prime minister is not telling the truth," Howard said.
His hopes of coaxing the prime minister to repeat his inflight remarks in the Commons -- potentially endangering Blair's position if Lord Hutton rules against him -- were thwarted when the prime minister gave a careful reply: "I stand by the totality of what I said at that time -- but in relation to this issue and all the other issues, the Hutton inquiry is going to report shortly. I suggest you wait for that."
This gave the prime minister the confidence to tell another Opposition MP that he would resign if he was proved to have lied to the Commons.
The angry exchanges came hours before Lord Hutton signalled his determination to avoid being used as a political football by quashing speculation about a government decision to make a late submission to his inquiry, the issue that prompted the new row.
"There was nothing surprising or unexpected or of special significance in the making of these written submissions," Lord Hutton said.
Lord Hutton attempted to calm the atmosphere by saying that all the main players -- the government, the BBC and the Kelly family -- had accepted an invitation from the inquiry to submit further evidence, he said. "Contrary to the suggestions in some of the press reports today, there was nothing surprising or unexpected or of special significance in the making of these written submissions," Lord Hutton said.
His intervention came as a relief to Blair's office in Downing Street, London, which had been struggling to dampen speculation about its decision to submit evidence after Lord Hutton concluded his hearings.
But Lord Hutton, who is due to retire next week before he publishes his report, underlined his independence when he made clear that the evidence was being withheld at the request of the government.
His remarks may prove embarrassing for Downing Street, which had given the impression that it was opposed to publication of the documents out of respect to Lord Hutton. Inquiry sources were keen to point out that the law lord wanted to publish the documents but only changed his mind after representations from the government. Lord Hutton's statement also leaves it unclear whether No 10's final written submission refers to Sir Kevin's evidence.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
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