Written question asked by Lynne Jones (Labour) on Tuesday, 31 August 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 September 2004. It was answered by Jack Straw (Labour) on Monday, 13 September 2004 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to paragraph 512 of the Butler Report, HC 898, on what date the Secret Intelligence Service became aware that the validity of the intelligence report on which the 45 minute claim was based had come into question; on what date Government ministers were informed of this; and how many links there were in the reporting chain for the 45 minute claim intelligence report.

Answer: Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to paragraph 512 of the Butler Report, HC 898, on what date the Secret Intelligence Service became aware that the validity of the intelligence report on which the 45 minute claim was based had come into question; on what date Government ministers were informed of this; and how many links there were in the reporting chain for the 45 minute claim intelligence report. [187394] Mr. Straw: Government Ministers were informed at the beginning of June about concerns that had arisen in mid-May regarding the validity of the intelligence reporting on which the 45-minute claim was based. Paragraph 399 of the Butler Report explains why it is not possible to set out in full the analysis of main SIS sources whose reporting underpinned JIC assessments, and this applies to details such as the number of links in the reporting chain for specific reports.

Secondary information