You Can Fool Some Of The People Some Of The Time...

British voters blame government for Kelly's death

London, July 21, IRNA -- A majority of British voters blame the
government for the death of defense ministry "mole" David Kelly with most saying their opinion of Prime Minister Tony Blair has gone down over the tragedy, according to a new poll.
The poll, published in the Daily Telegraph Monday, found an
overwhelming 83 percent believing Kelly's death last week was a direct consequence of being caught up in the row over the government's claim about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.
Asked who was thought most to blame, 47 percent said the
government for making his name public and suggesting he was the main source of a BBC report in May that claimed Saddam Hussein's threat had been exaggerated to justify the war against Iraq.
Almost a quarter of voters believe that the Foreign Affairs Committee, which interrogated Kelly, was mostly to blame, but only 9 percent said it was the BBC for refusing to reveal the name of the source of its report prepared by defense correspondent Andrew Gilligan.
Almost 60 percent said their opinion of Blair had gone down as a result of the Kelly affair, while 69 percent said they were not very confident or not confident at all in the judicial inquiry set up by the prime minister to investigate the circumstances of the death.
The body of Kelly, a former Iraq arms inspector, was found near his home three days after he denied being the main BBC source and after being questioned by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee last Tuesday.
His disappearance coincided with an extraordinary statement by the committee chairman, Labour MP Donald Anderson, criticizing
Gilligan after he refused to confirm the name of his source during a second hearing session held behind closed doors on Thursday.
The poll showed that opinion was divided 39 percent against 41 percent on whether Blair should resign, but a majority (65 percent) believed that his communications director, Alastair Campbell, who has been blamed for the exaggeration of Iraq's threat, should resign.
Almost two-thirds of British voters said that they did not believe that the government gave accurate information based on intelligence about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction before the war.
Asked who they trusted the most, 54 percent said the BBC compared with 18 percent which said the government.
Only a quarter against 68 percent believed that the government on balance had been honest and trustworthy.
HC/LS/AR
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last Update Monday, 21-Jul-2003 13:37:12 PDT
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