Government still dodging on Iraq dossier

Where did the claim that Saddam was ready to launch attacks on British interests within 45 minutes come from? We were told that it was from intelligence, but there are lingering suspicions that it emanated from government spin doctors.

This morning Iraq Dossier has the following story:

Following up my investigations, Lib Dem shadow Foreign Secretary Michael Moore asked Margaret Beckett what would appear to be a straightforward enough question: "whether the first draft of the Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction dossier authored by John Williams makes reference to Iraq's ability to deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes."

Beckett responded with a classic non-denial: "There are no plans for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to publish Mr. Williams' draft document, extracts from it or to confirm details of the contents."

John Williams was a foreign office spin doctor. Draw you own conclusions.

And read Chris Ames (the man behind Iraq Dossier) on Comment is Free or in the New Statesman for more of the background.