Britain: The Death of Dr Kelly

As we were preparing for publication, the news came through of the sudden death of Dr David Kelly. Dr Kelly had been publicly named as the source of a report by BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan, that exposed the manoeuvres of the Blair government to justify the war against Iraq. 

This revealed the systematic falsification of official documents concerning the alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In the last few weeks it has been made abundantly clear that the British government has lied time and time again about this question. In a crude attempt to defend itself against its critics, the government has put heavy pressure on the BBC demanding that it disassociates itself from Gilligan and even sack him.

This so-called “democrats” have scandalously interfered with the freedom of the press, and done their best to bully and blackmail independent-minded journalists. Not satisfied with this, they initiated a vicious campaign against Dr Kelly, who was named by some anonymous person in the state apparatus as the probable source of the leak.

Now Dr Kelly has been found dead. It is too early to state the exact cause of his death. It is possible that he may have collapsed from a heart attack since he was under a huge amount of pressure and harassment. But it is known that he was suffering from depression and that he was put under intolerable pressure by a parliamentary committee staffed with government stooges who made it their business to slander and harass both Kelly and Gillingan. It is therefore entirely possible that Kelly was driven to suicide by this government-inspired campaign. If, as seems most likely, Dr Kelly has taken his own life, the full responsibility for this crime must be placed at the door of number 10 Downing Street. 

The entire labour movement must protest against the appalling anti-democratic conduct of the right wing clique around Blair which has dragged the British people unwillingly into war on the basis of lies and misrepresentation of the facts, and is now resorting to dirty tactics to cover up its tracks. Enough is enough.

July 18, 2003.