tony facing hutton inquiry - the transcript

1 What they say is this:
2 "We conclude that the language used in the September
3 dossier was in places more assertive than that
4 traditionally used in intelligence documents. We
5 believe that there is much value in retaining the
6 measured and even cautious tones which have been the
7 hallmark of intelligence assessments and we recommend
8 that this approach be retained."
9 Do you agree with that comment?

10 A. I think that we described the intelligence in a way that
11 was perfectly justified and I would simply make this
12 point: although obviously people look back now on the
13 September dossier in a quite different way, if I make
14 these two points: the first is that the dossier, at the
15 time, was not received as being particularly incautious
16 in tone. On the contrary, a lot of people said that it
17 was done in a fairly prosaic way. So the commentary at
18 the time was not actually that it seemed to be, you
19 know, advancing the case in an adventurous way, if I can
20 put it like that, at all. The commentary was rather to
21 the opposite effect.

22 Secondly, the 45 minute claim, as I think I say in
23 my witness statement, just a point to make, I mentioned
24 it in the foreword, I mention it in my statement.
25 I think after then I do not think I mention it again in

17
1 Parliament. Indeed, on the 18th March debate, which was
2 the crucial debate, where Parliament decided that it was
3 going to opt for conflict, I do not think it came up at
4 all, and I think there is a sense in which it is
5 important to recognise that the September dossier was
6 not making the case for war, it was making the case for
7 the issue to be dealt with; and our preferred
8 alternative was indeed to deal with it through the
9 United Nations route.

etc