Classified medical records relating to the death of government scientist Dr David Kelly could be made available to the public.
The Ministry of Justice said a review to overturn a 70-year ban on post-mortem reports, photographs and other medical documents is under way.
The move was confirmed after The Mail on Sunday revealed last weekend that Lord Hutton, the peer who chaired the controversial inquiry into the David Kelly affair in 2003, requested an embargo on the records.
On Tuesday, Lord Hutton confirmed he had made the request to avoid causing Dr Kelly’s family ‘further and unnecessary distress’.
He also said he was happy for a group of doctors who are campaigning for a full inquest into Dr Kelly’s death -- which has never taken place -- to see the records he had classified.
Last night, Dr Michael Powers QC, one of the doctors lobbying for an inquest, said: ‘We are grateful to Lord Hutton for his change of mind, but if we are to be given access to post-mortem reports we need to consider all the medical and scientific evidence obtained after Dr Kelly’s death. There can be no justification for partial disclosure other than national security, and how could that be relevant to suicide?’
Dr Kelly’s body was found near his home in July 2003, shortly after he was exposed as the source of a BBC report questioning government claims that Iraq had WMDs that could be activated at 45 minutes’ notice.
In 2004, Lord Hutton concluded his inquiry by saying Dr Kelly committed suicide using a blunt knife.
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