The BBC cracked. Gilligan has been sent to his island.
Gilligan barred from reporting duties
Corporation tells Today man to spend all his time preparing in case of recall by Hutton
Jessica Hodgson and Kamal Ahmed
Sunday August 24, 2003
The Observer
Andrew Gilligan, the BBC correspondent at the centre of the storm over allegations that the Government 'sexed up' intelligence to make a stronger case for war against Iraq, has been removed from reporting duties.
Gilligan has been told to spend all his time preparing for a possible recall before the Hutton inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly, the Government scientist unmasked as the source of the radio man's claims that Downing Street tried to hype intelligence material despite opposition from the intelligence services.
BBC executives denied that Gilligan's departure from day-to-day reporting on the Radio 4 Today programme was linked to revelations last week that he sent emails to two MPs on the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee suggesting questions they could ask Kelly that would be 'devastating' for the Government.
Gilligan, the programme's defence correspondent, did not refer to the emails during his own evidence to Hutton two weeks ago, and they were not submitted as part of the BBC's evidence, despite Hutton's demand that all relevant documents should be handed over.
The inquiry has now asked the BBC to account for the omission. The corporation is likely to launch its own internal inquiry once Hutton has completed his report.
It now seems almost certain that Gilligan will be one of the first people to be recalled for further questioning. It is likely that the law lord will want to know whether the reporter's email was meant to encourage the MPs to question Kelly about things he knew would be uncomfortable for the scientist.
Donald Anderson, the Labour chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said it was unprecedented for a witness to an inquiry to try to guide MPs' questions.
Gilligan sent his emails to a Liberal Democrat and a Conservative on the committee. The messages came to light when the Liberal Democrats forwarded their copy to the inquiry.
It is also likely that Gavyn Davies, the chairman of the BBC Governors, who is to give evidence this week, will be asked about the emails. He will also be questioned on why the governors gave their full backing to Gilligan's reports, despite concern among senior BBC executives that the Today programme investigation had been marred by 'loose language'.
Kevin Marsh, the programme's editor, sent an email to Stephen Mitchell, the director of BBC News, making clear his worries a week before the governors met to agree their statement.
Minutes of the governors' emergency meeting to discuss what to say in the statement now reveal that concerns were raised during the session but not reflected in the final public statement.
However, relations between the Government and the corporation could improve. In an apparent U-turn on an earlier threat to bring the BBC under government scrutiny, Tessa Jowell, the Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, will stress the need today for a public service broadcaster that is independent of government and is adequately funded.
Jowell is expected to tell the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival that the BBC is 'as great as the Beatles' and a crucial part of Britain's heritage. She will add that whatever the findings of Hutton's inquiry an independent BBC is keystone in the country's future communications strategy.
Several weeks ago she infuriated the corporation by appearing threatenits independence .
The Government was accused of 'political bullying' by the BBC chairman after Jowell gave an interview to the Times in which she said she would take 'very seriously' any recommendations made about the BBC's journalism by the Hutton inquiry.
The inquiry has shone a light on the workings of the corpora tion's governors, who regulate the work of its journalists. Critics have long urged the Government to bring the BBC under the ambit of the new communications watchdog, Ofcom, which is to regulate all other broadcasters.
But following extensive lobbying from the commercial sector, the Government rejected this suggestion on the grounds that the BBC needs to remain independent of any government.
Jowell's remarks are likely to be seen as an implicit acknowledgement that the Government is unlikely to use the forthcoming renewal of the BBC charter to punish it over the Kelly affair.
She will, however, voice concern about its increasingly commercial behaviour, and say it must broadcast its heritage programmes on free-to-air channels, rather than on pay channels.
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