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BBC apologises to Blair John Plunkett Thursday January 29, 2004 The BBC has offered an unreserved apology to the government over the way it handled its complaint about the Andrew Gilligan story, which Tony Blair immediately accepted, adding the government could now "draw a line" under the whole episode. The BBC acting chairman, Lord Ryder, issued the statement on behalf of the board of governors, which also confirmed the appointment of Greg Dyke's recently appointed deputy, Mark Byford, as acting director general. Lord Ryder said the Hutton report had highlighted "serious defects in the corporation's processes". "On behalf of the...

Hutton: Fleet Street's reaction Journalists from Britain's national press give their initial responses to the Hutton Inquiry report.Michael White, political editor, Guardian: Lord Hutton has been very severe on the BBC, rightly so in many respects in my view. But he has been overly generous to the government machine and some individuals within it. Any 72-year-old who pronounces the word "hotel" without an "h" is a very establishment figure. Hamish McDonnell, political editor, Scotsman: It's not quite what we expected. It's surprised a lot of people in the way the government got off the hook while the BBC has taken...

The BBC is taking extensive steps to prevent its own journalists from getting their hands on advance copies of the Hutton report from within the corporation. BBC staff who gave evidence at the Hutton inquiry, including director general Greg Dyke and news director Richard Sambrook, will receive a copy of the report the day before it is published next week. But Lord Hutton's confidentiality agreement bars them from passing it to the news division. To prevent leaks within the BBC, the corporation has ordered that lawyers be present whenever a copy of the report is being studied. No one who...

My name is Tony Blair … and this will be the longest day of my premiership. The following takes place between 12.00pm on January 27 and 12.00pm on January 28, when I have to save the world … and my job Westminster’s bell should sound the same as it does every day. Except on this day, January 27, nothing will sound normal, even Big Ben. Nothing over the next 24 hours is going to feel routine or politically comfortable. This will be get-even day, decision day, pay back day, a day to survive or be buried. At its end, Big...

<p>Media organizations prepared Tuesday to oppose any efforts by the Justice Department to subpoena journalists and their notes to learn who leaked the identity of an undercover CIA agent to columnist Robert Novak.</p> <p>Subpoenas could be challenged on the basis of First Amendment guarantees of freedom of the press, said Bill Felber, editor of The Manhattan (Kan.) Mercury and freedom of information chairman for the Associated Press Managing Editors. But they could also be challenged, he said, if they were too broad or if the information could be obtained in other ways.</p>

A computer expert has pointed to "seeming anomalies" on the handheld computer BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan used to record his conversation with Dr David Kelly. The weapons expert's apparent suicide came after he was named as the suspected source for Mr Gilligan's story about the government "sexing up" intelligence in its Iraq weapons dossier. Forensic computer expert Edward Wilding told the inquiry he was worried about why Downing Street media chief Alastair Campbell's name did not appear in one of the memos on Mr Gilligan's Sharp personal organiser. He had also found some experimentation with the computer. "Somebody was looking...

Internal emails disclosed to the Hutton Inquiry reveal that BBC governors feared the corporation was partly to blame for the death of Dr David Kelly, whose apparent suicide triggered the judicial investigation. Three days after Dr Kelly's body was found, Professor Fabian Monds, the BBC governor in Northern Ireland, sent an email to Gavyn Davies, the chairman, expressing his concern. "We are all troubled by the thought that our actions may have contributed, however indirectly, to this tragedy. Dr Kelly is one victim of this situation; there are others," said the email. Another governor has also expressed disquiet about the...

The FBI has accused the BBC of wrecking an elaborate operation that was designed to infiltrate al-Qaida. The BBC, regarded by some as institutionally anti-American, is said to have aborted the operation by broadcasting an "exclusive" report about the arrest of a British arms dealer last Tuesday. The arms dealer was allegedly attempting to purchase ground-to-air missiles for terrorist clients who were seeking to shoot down civilian airliners in the United States. But what 68-year-old Hemant Lakhani did not know was that he was the subject of an elaborate, 18-month-long sting operation that involved Russian intelligence "suppliers" and FBI "customers."...