The Hutton Inquiry has concluded that a north Essex MP acted properly when asking questions which had been linked to the death of Dr David Kelly.
Lord Hutton said parliamentary questions by Bernard Jenkin were "entirely proper" when giving a conclusion to his inquiry into the death of the Ministry of Defence weapons expert yesterda
But the MP for north Essex added: "The whole situation's very sad and I just feel very sad."
Prior to Dr Kelly's death on July 18 last year, Mr Jenkin, who was shadow defence secretary at the time, proposed a series of questions to ask in the House of Commons.
They were meant for the Secretary of State for Defence Geoff Hoon and related to Dr Kelly's meeting with BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan and if the MoD would be taking any disciplinary action.
But unknown to Mr Jenkin, the questions were passed on directly to Dr Kelly.
The matter came to light during the Hutton Inquiry, which was set up to examine the cause of Dr Kelly's death.
During the hearing, a consultant psychiatrist said Mr Jenkins' questions may have added to the pressure on Dr Kelly and been a factor in his suicide.
Mr Jenkin said at the time he had only tabled the questions to ensure the Ministry of Defence was giving one of its employees support during a difficult time.
Published Thursday January 29, 2004
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