Hutton delivers Kelly verdict
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3434661.stm
Lord Hutton has just started unveiling the long-awaited findings of his inquiry into the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly.
The former law lord is making a televised statement at the Royal Courts of Justice in London ahead of his full report being published at 1330 GMT.
Dr Kelly apparently killed himself last July after being named as the source for a BBC story on Iraqi weapons.
Prime Minister Tony Blair will make a House of Commons statement and take questions about the report at 1400 GMT.
The report is based on evidence from 74 witnesses over the six weeks of the Hutton inquiry last summer, which involved thousands of pages of documents.
The full findings are also to be published on the inquiry's website.
The main players in the inquiry, including the government, the BBC and Dr Kelly's family, received early copies of the report at lunchtime on Tuesday.
And Conservative leader Michael Howard and Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy were given the chance to read the report from 0600 GMT on Wednesday.
Lord Hutton was asked to inquire into the circumstances surrounding Dr Kelly's death, and has spent more than four months writing up his conclusions.
Dr Kelly was Mr Gilligan's source for the story broadcast by the BBC Today programme's Andrew Gilligan about claims the government "sexed up" its 2002 dossier about Iraqi weapons.
Leak row
Lord Hutton is dealing with how the government prepared the dossier and its treatment of Dr Kelly once he admitted meeting Mr Gilligan.
The BBC is coming under scrutiny for its original story and the way it defended the broadcasts.
His statement follows a row over an apparent leak to the Sun newspaper of what it said were his conclusions.
The Tories have blamed the leak on the government.
At prime minister's questions, Mr Blair said he was happy for there to be an inquiry into the leak.
"Nobody, as far as I am aware, has leaked this from government," he said, demanding to know the evidence for the Tory claims.
Drama builds
Some members of the public have queued overnight so they can witness Lord Hutton's statement first hand.
Gavin Oram was first in the queue, saying the wait had not been as cold as he had expected.
"I don't think the leak has spoiled today's events," he told BBC News Online.
Law student Andrew Edwards, 39, second in the queue, spent the night in a sleeping bag under a cardboard box.
He believed the leak only made people more eager to hear the full story.
"It adds to the drama," he said.
The report comes after the government scraped a five-vote victory in the House of Commons test of its controversial plans for university top-up fees.