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Iraq Dossier (September 2002)

I think that my hon. Friend is right, but we must not forget—I shall come to this point later—that the document was commissioned by Campbell, who commissioned John Scarlett to undertake it. We can understand the relationship a little better once we know that fact, but on the face of it, I agree with my hon. Friend. Part of the new evidence that I am bringing forward suggests—or proves, in my view—the existence of the first full draft of the dossier, written by John Williams, press secretary at the FCO. That new evidence confirms that Williams produced his draft on 9 September 2002 —one day before John Scarlett wrote his own first draft. We also know, from information supplied by the Information Commissioner only last month, that John Scarlett requested that draft before writing his own. None of that has been in the public domain until now. Although we now know of its existence, the document has been withheld by the FCO in the face of parliamentary questions and a freedom of information request. It is now imperative that we see that draft dossier for ourselves. We need to know the extent to which the Williams draft formed the basis of John Scarlett’s draft on the following day. On the morning of 9 September, there was a planning meeting on the dossier. In the afternoon, there was the first drafting meeting. John Williams was asked to produce a draft document. It is surely unthinkable that such a document did not significantly influence the drafting process. We need to know what that influence was, as Williams’s involvement runs contrary to the conclusion of the Hutton inquiry and the impression that the Government gave Parliament and the public about the origin and status of the dossier, yet the FCO still refuses to make the draft public. Originally, the Government defended their decision by arguing that disclosure would discourage officials from giving free and frank advice in the future. However, last month, the Information Commissioner ruled that such considerations were outweighed by the public interest argument in favour of publication. The FCO, I understand, is now appealing against that decision.