OUT OF THE DARKNESS?..

It was, of course, the shrieking harridan that is Ann Widdecombe who alluded to Michael Howard having `something of the night` about him. A classic case of pot and kettle if ever there was one. And now it seems that Lord Howard, as he now is, has lent his weight to something which for many of us has long had something of the night about it.

I refer to the supposed suicide of Government Weapons Inspector, Dr. David Kelly, who was found dead in mysterious circumstances near his Oxforshire home in July, 2003.There was always a feeling that Lord Hutton`s Inquiry into Dr Kelly`s death just skimmed the surface of whatever those circumstances may have been before reaching its verdict of suicide. What made it more questionable was the total absence of a proper Coroner`s verdict, the absence of a properly constituted inquest and the 70-year ban slapped on the medical evidence given at the Hutton Inquiry.

So, the newly enobled Michael Howard, in lending his support for a properly constitued Inquest, has joined the growing ranks of those in the medical and legal profession who have been disturbed by the Hutton Inquiry`s conclusions ever since it was held. A while ago, I did a piece about this affair which I titled `The Gathering Storm.` It seems that the winds of doubt over the Kelly case are advancing up the Beaufort Scale and I wait to see what, if anything, the new Coalition Government will do about it. We need something that will lift the uncertainty away from the darkness of night into the light of day. I hope Lord Howard`s intervention might just help it on its way.