Fallout from Kelly's death

Andrew Marr says there are serious questions to answer

The death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly, the source at the centre of the Iraq dossier row, has sent shockwaves throughout the government. The BBC's political editor Andrew Marr spoke to Peter Sissons on BBC One's Breakfast with Frost about the possible fallout from Dr Kelly's apparent suicide.

Peter Sissons: So where do we stand this morning on the issue of weapons of mass destruction and the tragic death of the MoD scientist David Kelly? The consequences for Dr Kelly's family are all too clear, but what of the prime minister, the defence secretary, Alastair Campbell and indeed the BBC. Andrew Marr is with us. Give us your overview of this Kelly crisis. How much trouble, first, is the government in?

Andrew Marr: I think everybody involved is in some degree of trouble, and perhaps everybody should reflect on the fact that the family said that everybody was involved as well. In terms of the government - there are a list of serious questions for the government to answer, and quite near the top of it is, who did put Dr Kelly's name into the public sphere first of all? One newspaper is saying that a government press spin doctor has admitted that they were responsible. That's serious. How was Dr Kelly treated by the Ministry of Defence? Did they do what they should have done to protect him in those circumstances? There are already calls, in a lot of papers, for [government communications director] Alastair Campbell and indeed the prime minister to go over this. I have to say that if this whole thing was caused by an obsessional, out-of-proportion dog fight, then perhaps people should reflect whether it is appropriate and right to carry on doing that now.

I think lack of proportion is the biggest thing that has gone wrong

Sissons: And the BBC, can it expect further attempts to make sure some of the blame is stuck firmly on the corporation?

Marr: Well, the BBC has serious questions to answer. Above all, did the BBC do enough to protect Dr Kelly as its main source? Should the BBC have admitted that earlier on? Would that have taken some of the pressure off Dr Kelly? There's no doubt that the BBC will also be part of this.

Sissons: Now, Harold Wilson said that a week was a long time in politics. Within 24 hours, the adrenalin charge from Washington drained from Tony Blair. What has deserted the government at this juncture? Is it just bad luck, or have they run out of presentational skills, their control instincts or perhaps just tired?

Marr: Well certainly tired. I think, I come back to this sense of a lack of proportion. Now there is no doubt that Alastair Campbell and a lot of people at Number 10, including, I think, the prime minister, were genuinely very, very angry about what BBC Radio 4's Today programme said about them. No doubt, we're going to hear a great deal more about this 45 minutes - it's not what it appears to be, says at least one report in the papers.

It was actually about how long it took Saddam Hussein to tell his regional commanders they could use WMD - not to get the stuff flying through the air. But was it right, in retrospect, to pursue this argument quite so hard, for quite so far, for quite so long? It produced headlines on the Today programme, in all the newspapers, for weeks, which was already causing the government trouble. I mean, they weren't talking about schools or hospitals, whatever Tony Blair wanted them to talk about, they were just talking about the 45 minutes in the dossier. I think lack of proportion is the biggest thing that has gone wrong.

Sissons: Does Lord Hutton, who will inquire into all this, really have the future of Alastair Campbell and Geoff Hoon, even Tony Blair in his hands?

Marr: Up to a point. I mean, I think the future of Alastair Campbell, possibly Geoff Hoon, that's really in their hands. I think Alastair Campbell will have been very badly hit by this. I think he is an emotional man and he has a strong sense of what is right and wrong, whatever his critics think about him. All I would say is I would be surprised if he has a great appetite for carrying on doing this for much longer.

I think it is in his hands really, and the same goes for other players. But certainly, if this judge produces a report which points the finger quite clearly at anybody whether it's the BBC, whether it's Alastair Campbell, whether it's the Ministry of Defence, then this has been such an appalling case then I'm quite sure resignations will have to follow.

Sissons: And very briefly, is Glenda Jackson alone, a maverick voice calling for Tony Blair's resignation, or is there deep unease in the Labour party?

I don't think that there are many people inside the Labour party who now think it is right for the prime minister to go

Marr: There is a lot of unhappiness about the last few weeks, it has been the worst July, the worst end-of-summer session that I think any of us can remember reporting politics. But I don't think that there are many people inside the Labour party who now think it is right for the prime minister to go. There are people who think he should step aside before the election because he is tired, and all the rest of it, but the vast majority of people inside the Labour party would still want him to carry on.