But Gilligan has always maintained that he was careful to describe his source as a "senior official involved in drawing up the dossier". It transpired yesterday that the mention of an "intelligence source", seized on by the Government, was by Richard Sambrook, the BBC's head of news, before Gilligan had given him Kelly's details.
Yesterday the BBC issued a statement on behalf of Gilligan. It said: "I want to make it clear that I did not misquote or misrepresent Dr David Kelly.
"Entirely separately from my meeting with him, Dr Kelly expressed very similar concerns about the Downing St interpretation of intelligence in the dossier and the unreliability of the 45-minute point [the claim that Iraq could launch weapons within 45 minutes of Saddam's order] to Newsnight. These reports have never been questioned by Downing St.
"Although Dr Kelly had close connections with the intelligence community, none of our reports ever described him as a member of the intelligence services, but as a senior official closely involved in the preparation of the dossier."
There are believed to have been serious reservations among some senior BBC staff over the timing of the declaration about Kelly. They argued that as well as removing Downing St from the firing line, there will be anger about naming the scientist when he was no longer there to defend himself. There was also growing unease among BBC journalists about the naming of Kelly, and what the future held.
However, a senior BBC executive dismissed suggestions that heads may roll. He said: "We had taken a robust stand on this matter, and although changing circumstances had led to our announcement about Dr Kelly, we continue to be robust."
Both Greg Dyke, the director-general, and Gavyn Davies, the chairman of the board of governors, were said to have been adamant about the matter. The corporation stressed that the statement was made after consultation with Kelly's family.
In a statement read outside Broadcasting House, Sambrook spoke about the BBC's "deep regret" over Kelly's death, but insisted that it was "right to put Dr Kelly's views in the public domain".
Sambrook added that the BBC would cooperate fully with the judicial inquiry into Kelly's death and provide full details about contacts between the civil servant and two journalists - Gilligan and Susan Watts, science correspondent on the Newsnight programme, who had reported a similar story about the dossier.
Within minutes of the statement's being issued, critics were lining up to attack the BBC. One of the most vociferous, Gerald Kaufman, who chairs the Commons Committee on Culture, Media and Sport, repeatedly accused the BBC of misrepresenting Kelly as an intelligence source.
"What the BBC did was launch one of the most relentless campaigns ever conducted on a premise they now accept was not so. If anyone should resign, then the people in the BBC should consider their position," he said.
Kaufman said the BBC should be brought under the new Office of Communications watchdog.
He added: "We wait for the inquiry in terms of what happened leading up to Dr Kelly's death, but I believe that we do not wait to consider the whole way in which the BBC runs its affairs, runs its journalism and is governed ... The BBC has behaved deplorably and there are serious implications for its future."
Kelly's constituency MP, Robert Jackson, a Tory, demanded that Davies, Sambrook and Gilligan should all resign. He continued, "I believe the BBC are responsible for his death. If they had made this statement before his suicide I don't believe he would have died."
Broadcaster Tom Mangold, a friend of Kelly, said he believed the scientist provided about "60 per cent" of Gilligan's story. "Where is the supporting evidence? It did not come from Kelly, where did it come from?"
But he added: "I don't think the other sources should be revealed. That would be the end of investigative journalism. The BBC has been behaving in an odd way."
In her report on June 2, Watts said: "The Government's insistence the Iraqi threat was imminent was a Downing St interpretation of intelligence conclusions." Chillingly, in the light of future events, she went on: "We cannot name this person because their livelihood depends on anonymity." Her reports did not attract the accusations that were levelled against Gilligan.
But by then, the row had been stoked. John Reid, who was then Leader of the Commons, lambasted the BBC on the Today programme over the "misrepresentations", and blamed "rogue agents" of the intelligence services for the leaks. Reid suggested that Gilligan's source could have been a man in a pub.
Presenter John Humphrys responded: "I rather think people like Andrew Gilligan can distinguish between an intelligence officer and a man in a pub."
A letter sent to the BBC by Campbell on June 26 highlighted Sambrook's reference to the source as being "in the intelligence services".
The corporation said yesterday that Sambrook was not aware at the time of Kelly's identity - and had admitted to the error. But the letter and its demands for a swift response prompted Sambrook to accuse Downing St of putting "unprecedented pressure" on the BBC. He accused the Government of pursuing a vendetta against Gilligan. The board of governors also backed the Gilligan report before the Ministry of Defence unmasked Kelly.
- INDEPENDENT
British Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee transcript:
Evidence of Dr David Kelly
Key players in the 'sexed-up dossier' affair
Herald Feature: Iraq
Iraq links and resources
