Hutton and Scott: A Tale of Two Inquiries

This article traces the shifting foreign policy priorities that provided the context for the Scott and Hutton reports. Taken together, these reports bookend a 25-year period in which Saddam Hussein was transformed from de facto ally and valued trading partner to the most immediate threat to world peace. In neither phase of the relationship was the British public trusted with the objective truth about the Iraqi regime. Intelligence on Iraq was first ‘spun down’ and then later ‘spun up’ to fit wider priorities. In particular, the September 2002 Downing Street dossier at the heart of the Hutton inquiry needs to be seen in the context of the propaganda requirements involved in preparing democracies for war. While the Hutton inquiry absolved Downing Street of the charge that it ‘sexed up’ this dossier, the damage inflicted on the Blair government by the inquiry process is reflected in the low levels of trust now registered by the public in ministers.