Parties to get early Hutton file

Lord Hutton's hearings went on for six weeks

The opposition parties are to be given access to Lord Hutton's report into the death of Dr David Kelly at 0600 GMT on the day of its publication.

Lord Hutton announced on Thursday he will be releasing his long-awaited report on 28 January.

It will be published in Parliament and Lord Hutton will make a televised statement about his findings.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats both demanded the earliest possible sight of the report.

Reading time

Lord Hutton has already said that parties to the inquiry, which include the government, BBC and Dr Kelly's family, would receive copies of the report 24 hours ahead of publication.

It would be unreasonable for the opposition parties to have only a quarter of the time available to the government Charles Kennedy

It is understood Tony Blair will make a Commons statement on the Hutton report at 1230 GMT on 28 January.

A Downing Street spokesman said the proposed arrangement would give both Tory and Lib Dem leaders about twice as much time as the three hours' notice Labour was given of the Scott Report into the arms-to-Iraq scandal.

But Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy denounced the plans as "inadequate".

In a letter to the prime minister, he said: "It would be unreasonable for the opposition parties to have only a quarter of the time available to the government to study Lord Hutton's findings."

'Defensive'

He asked why he and Tory leader Michael Howard could not have the report "at the same time as the government".

A senior Lib Dem aide added: "You have to ask why the government is doing this. It makes them look shaky and on the defensive."

But in a statement, the Conservative Party said while it would have liked to have "had as much time as possible" to review the contents of the report, they accepted the government's decision.

Mr Howard and Mr Kennedy, with two of their senior spokesmen, are expected to read the report early - on condition they promise not to reveal its contents.

The report will come hours after a crucial Commons vote on the controversial plans for university top-up fees.

Kelly naming

Weapons expert Dr Kelly apparently committed suicide last July after being named as the suspected source for the BBC's controversial Iraq weapons story.

In his report on BBC's Today programme, defence correspondent Andrew Gilligan claimed Downing Street had "sexed up" the government's Iraq weapons dossier.

The BBC has come under fire for the way it handled complaints about the broadcast.

Scrutiny over the government surrounds the preparation of the dossier and the treatment of Dr Kelly.

Spin?

The report by Sir Richard Scott into the breach of arms embargoes against Iraq was released in 1996 under John Major's Tory government.

Labour's then shadow foreign secretary Robin Cook had just three hours to take in thousands of pages before his Commons address.

Meanwhile, Lord Hutton has refused to give the media an advance view of the report, even if they promise not to publish it.

But he pledged to give a "clear and full" summary of the findings himself to help those making immediate reports.

"My summary will make it more difficult for any party or other body or person subsequently to 'spin" the contents," he added.