Andrew Paul Gilligan (born 22 November 1968, Teddington, London, England) is a journalist best known for his 2003 report about a British government briefing paper on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction (the September Dossier) while working for BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme as its defence and diplomatic correspondent. November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1968 Gregorian calendar. ... Teddington is a leafy, green and highly desirable suburb of south west London, England and part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the Queen England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 967 AD  Area  -  Total 130,395 km²  50,346 sq mi  Population  -  2007 estimate 50... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Iraq and weapons of mass destruction concerns the Iraqi governments use, possession, and alleged intention of acquiring more types of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) during the presidency of Saddam Hussein. ... The September Dossier is the name given to a document published by the United Kingdom Labour government on 24 September 2002. ... BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ... This article refers to the BBC Today programme, for the NBC Today Show see The Today Show Today, commonly referred to as the Today programme in order to avoid ambiguity, is BBC Radio 4s long-running early morning news and current affairs programme, which is now broadcast from 6am... In military science, defense (or defence) is the art of preventing an enemy from conquering territory. ... Diplomat redirects here. ...

Early career

Gilligan was educated at Grey Court School, Ham, Richmond, at Richmond upon Thames College, Twickenham, and at St. John's College, Cambridge University, where he studied history. A large part of his time in Cambridge was spent on the student newspaper, Varsity, of which he became News Editor. He was also a member of Cambridge Organisation of Labour Students and stood as one of its candidates for the Cambridge delegation to the National Union of Students conference in 1994. Grey Court School is a mixed comprehensive in Richmond, Greater London, England. ... Richmond is a suburb and the principal settlement of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London, England. ... Richmond upon Thames College is a college in the South West borough of Richmond, London which provides education primarily to 16-19 year olds. ... Twickenham is a suburb in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, south west London. ... Full name The College of Saint John the Evangelist of the University of Cambridge Motto - Named after The Hospital of Saint John the Evangelist, Cambridge, named after John the Evangelist Previous names - Established 1511 Sister College Balliol College Master Prof. ... The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and has a reputation as one of the worlds most prestigious universities. ... Varsity is the older of Cambridge Universitys main student newspapers (The Cambridge Student is the other, younger, one). ... The Cambridge University Labour Club (CULC) is a political society set up in the early twentieth century to unite socialist students at Cambridge University with the Labour Party. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ...

In 1994, after a summer placement on The Independent, he gave up his studies to work full-time in journalism. He contributed to the Cambridge Evening News as a freelance and later moved to the Sunday Telegraph where he became a specialist reporter on defence. In 1999 he was recruited by the Today programme editor Rod Liddle as Defence and Diplomatic Correspondent, as part of an attempt by Liddle to sharpen up the programme's investigative journalism. For other uses, see The Independent (disambiguation). ... The Cambridge Evening News is a paper distributed in the early afternoon in Cambridge Mon - Sat. ... This article deals with The Daily Telegraph in Britain, see The Daily Telegraph (Australia) for the Australian publication The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper founded in 1855. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... Rod Liddle (born 1960) is a controversial British journalist best known for his term as editor of BBC Radio 4s Today programme. ...

The Today programme

On Today, Gilligan broke numerous stories about the British military's shortcomings, particularly in relation to the Kosovo war. He obtained leaked Ministry of Defence reports showing that the Army's rifles and radios had not worked; that only a small fraction of Royal Air Force (RAF) bombs during the campaign had hit their targets; and that a £1 billion upgrade to the RAF's main combat jet had left it unable to drop smart bombs. The Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, denied to Parliament Gilligan's report that British troops were ill-equipped for the war in Iraq and called for a public apology. The story was borne out by a National Audit Office report. The term Kosovo War or Kosovo Conflict is often used to describe two sequential and at times parallel armed conflicts (a civil war followed by an international war) in the southern Serbian province called Kosovo (officially Kosovo and Metohia), part of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. ... The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. ... The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... The Secretary of State for Defence is the senior United Kingdom government minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence. ... Geoff Hoon (right) at Pentagon briefing Geoffrey William Geoff Hoon (born December 6, 1953) is a British politician. ... The National Audit Office (NAO) is an independent Parliamentary body in the United Kingdom which is responsible for auditing central government departments, government agencies and non-departmental public bodies. ...

In 2000, Gilligan became the first British journalist to report on the EU's plans for a constitution. The Prime Minister's spokesman, Alastair Campbell, denied any such plans and attacked the journalist as 'Gullible Gilligan'.^[1] 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

While most comment critical of Gilligan was directed at his having mistakenly reported his source as saying the 45 minute figure was wrong, Lord Hutton worded his conclusions as follows:

The allegations reported by Mr Gilligan on the BBC Today programme on 29 May 2003 that the Government probably knew that the 45 minutes claim was wrong or questionable before the dossier was published and that it was not inserted in the first draft of the dossier because it only came from one source and the intelligence agencies did not really believe it was necessarily true, were unfounded.

Dr David Kelly

Gilligan's source was one of the world's foremost biological weapons experts, Dr David Kelly. Kelly was found dead, having committed suicide, shortly after being identified as the source for the story. An inquiry (the Hutton Inquiry) subsequently set up to investigate the circumstances leading up to Kelly's death heard much evidence about Gilligan's claims, and ruled that they were unfounded. The Inquiry could not establish exactly what had transpired at the meeting between Gilligan and Kelly as Gilligan took notes using a palmtop computer. Two versions of the notes were found, only one of which mentioned Alastair Campbell. For other persons named David Kelly, see David Kelly (disambiguation). ... The Hutton Inquiry was a British judicial inquiry chaired by Lord Hutton, appointed by the British government to investigate the death of a government weapons expert, Dr. David Kelly. ... A Handheld PC, or H/PC for short, is a Microsoft term for a computer built around a form factor which is smaller than any standard notebook PC or laptop. ...

However, Gilligan's account of the conversation appeared to many observers to have been substantially corroborated by independent interviews given to two other BBC journalists, Susan Watts and Gavin Hewitt. Watts had recorded her conversation with Kelly, in which Kelly did indeed say that Alastair Campbell might be responsible for changes to the dossier. As both Gilligan and Watts had spoken to Dr Kelly on an unattributable basis, he could have expected his anonymity to be protected. The fact that it was not has not been subjected to further investigation. Susan Watts is the science editor of the BBCs Newsnight programme, joining the programme in January 1995. ... Gavin Hewitt is a journalist for the BBC. Having started his career in Canada, Hewitt began working for the BBC in 1984 on Panorama, a television documentary series. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... It has been suggested that Attribution (journalism) be merged into this article or section. ...

Political pressure

The Government began to demand that the BBC name the source for Gilligan's report. Gilligan and the BBC refused to do so. However, after rumours began to circulate amongst his colleagues, Kelly himself eventually revealed to his employers that he had spoken to Gilligan, though he denied making the more critical comments. As he was not a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee which had drawn up the dossier, and did not have any dealings with 10 Downing Street, Dr Kelly could not have known directly of any input by Alastair Campbell into the dossier and, for that reason, Campbell wanted Kelly's identity revealed in order to refute Gilligan's story. Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney stand in front of the famous main door to Number 10. ...

It was later revealed that Campbell had written in his diary: "It was double-edged but GH (Geoff Hoon) and I agreed it would fuck Gilligan if that was his source." The name of David Kelly became known when several journalists picked up clues from a Government press release. Hutton later concluded that it was inevitable that Kelly's name would become public knowledge.

Inquiries

Several official enquiries into the affair were made, with different scopes.

The Foreign Affairs Committee

Kelly was called to give evidence before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, which was undertaking an inquiry into the dossier. Gilligan emailed several members of the Committee to tell them that Susan Watts' unattributed Newsnight source was David Kelly. Though it supported Gilligan's case, it unnerved Kelly — who was forced to deny making the comments which were quoted verbatim in the committee. Susan Watts' tape of the conversation would prove this a lie, placing Kelly in jeopardy. Gilligan's actions in identifying another journalist's source went against a principle of investigative journalism: protect the source. The Foreign Affairs Committee is one of many Select Committees of the British House of Commons, which scrutinises the work of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. ... The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Newsnight is a British daily news analysis, current affairs and politics programme broadcast between 22:30 and 23:20 on weekdays on BBC Two. ... Investigative journalism is a kind of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or some other scandal. ...

The Hutton Inquiry

Despite this error and the overstatement in the first report, Gilligan maintained he had uncovered a potentially important news story, originating from a credible source. However, his story suffered from weaknesses which were demonstrated during the inquiry. Lord Hutton ruled that while Alastair Campbell had made comments on the dossier, the Joint Intelligence Committee had taken all the decisions on its content. Hutton ruled that the Defence Intelligence Staff had raised doubts about the 45 minute claim, but they had been dismissed by the Secret Intelligence Service and had not reached 10 Downing Street. Doubts were raised during the inquiry about Gilligan's journalistic standards, with criticism from the editor of Today, Kevin Marsh that his report on the 45-minute claim was "flawed" and from the BBC's director of news, Richard Sambrook that he was a reporter "who paints in primary colours" rather than "subtleties and nuances". The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) was founded in 1936 as a sub-committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6, is the United Kingdoms external intelligence agency. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Richard Sambrook (born 24 April 1956) is the Director of the BBC World Service and Global News, and former Director of BBC News and BBC Sport. ...

The Butler Enquiry

A later official enquiry into the government's use of intelligence, conducted by the former head of the civil service Lord Butler of Brockwell, found that "more weight was placed on the intelligence than it would bear", that the dossier "put a strain on the Joint Intelligence Committee in seeking to maintain their normal standards of neutral and objective assessment", and that the judgments in the dossier went to the "outer limits … of the intelligence available." Arms of Baron Butler of Brockwell The Right Honourable Frederick Edward Robin Butler, Baron Butler of Brockwell, KG, GCB, CVO, PC (born 3 January 1938) is a retired British civil servant, now sitting in the House of Lords as a life peer. ...

On the 45-minute claim, Butler endorsed the concerns of the Defence Intelligence Staff and said they should have been heeded. The 45-minute claim should not have been included in the form it took, and there were "suspicions that it had been included because of its eye-catching character". It also emerged that some of the intelligence underpinning the dossier, based on reporting from a new and untested source, had been withdrawn by MI6 as unreliable. Lord Butler of Brockwell revealed that much of the remainder of the intelligence was described by MI6 as "patchy" and "fragmentary", contrary to the characterisation of it by the Prime Minister as "detailed, authoritative and compelling". However, Lord Butler of Brockwell cleared both the Prime Minister and the chairman of the JIC, John Scarlett, of bad faith or dishonesty. The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service, is the United Kingdom external security agency. ... Sir John McLeod Scarlett, KCMG, OBE (born August 18, 1948) is head of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). ...

Resignation from the BBC

During the Hutton Inquiry, Gilligan made little public comment on the affair, leaving that to more senior BBC personnel, including Director-General Greg Dyke and chairman Gavyn Davies both of whom stood by Gilligan's story. All three resigned from the BBC following the publication of the Hutton Inquiry report. Gilligan was belligerent in his departure, saying: "This report casts a chill over all journalism, not just the BBC's. It seeks to hold reporters, with all the difficulties they face, to a standard that it does not appear to demand of, for instance, Government dossiers." Gregory Dyke (born 20 May 1947) is a journalist and broadcaster. ... Gavyn Davies Gavyn Davies (born 27 November 1950) was the chairman of the BBC from 2001 until 2004, a former Goldman Sachs banker and a former economic advisor to the British Government. ...

After leaving the BBC, Gilligan became Defence and Diplomatic Editor of The Spectator. As of 2005 he writes for the Evening Standard on defence and diplomatic affairs and on other issues, including the paper's campaign to preserve the Routemaster London bus. Public transport has long been one of Gilligan's private interests. In a speech to the Edinburgh TV Festival in August 2004, the main annual gathering of the broadcasting industry, Gilligan spoke of his "awe" at the Government's "industrial-strength, 45-carat shamelessness" over the dossier and said that the BBC should not retreat from journalism probing of the Government. Cover of the Nov 12, 2005 issue of The Spectator magazine. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Headlines of the Evening Standard on the day of London bombing on July 7, 2005, in Waterloo Station The Evening Standard is a British tabloid newspaper published and sold in London and surrounding areas of southeast England. ... First London AEC Routemaster, RML 2473 (JJD 473D), on route 7 towards Ladbroke Grove tube station, April 2002. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

In a drama-documentary The Government Inspector made by Peter Kosminsky and broadcast on March 17th 2005 by Channel 4, the discrepancy between the two computer versions of Gilligan's record of his meeting with Dr Kelly was explained by showing Gilligan altering the file to make it tie in with what he had reported. Gilligan described the depiction as "demonstrably, even absurdly, false", and his denial was supported by Greg Dyke. However, Kosminsky said that he had been advised by a computer forensics expert. Peter Kosminsky is an English Director, Actor and Producer. ... It has been suggested that Channel Four Television Corporation be merged into this article or section. ...

More recently, Gilligan began reporting for the London Evening Standard. He has also worked for Channel 4 on the investigative programme Dispatches, looking at the treatment of British soldiers returning from war in Iraq. A dispatch can be: A report sent to a newspaper by a correspondent. ...

References

• Biography on the BBC website

External links

• Andrew Gilligan on plans to build a supermosque in East London