Cherie accused of exploiting Kelly's death

Published on Wednesday 14 May 2008 22:14

CHERIE BLAIR was yesterday accused of cashing in on the suicide of the late government scientist Dr David Kelly as his family joined a growing backlash over the memoirs of the former prime minister's wife.

The brother of Dr Kelly's widow, Derek Vawdrey, said Mrs Blair should "be ashamed of herself" for dredging up his death. The weapons inspector took his own life after he was "outed" as a source for a contentious BBC story that alleged the government "sexed up" a dossier on the threat posed by Iraq and its non-existent weapons of mass destruction.

In her book, Speaking for Myself, Mrs Blair – who prefers to be addressed as Ms Booth, QC, professionally, but published her memoirs under her married name – recalls the aftermath of Dr Kelly's death and the Kelly family's rejection of her invite to visit Chequers.

But Mr Vawdrey said his brother-in-law was being "used". He said: "Cherie Blair should be ashamed of herself. It's typical of the Blairs to use Dai's death to show the world what a wonderful man Tony Blair is. So far as I'm concerned, my brother-in-law's death was caused by what went on at No10 and what they said about him."

Mrs Blair writes that she had never seen her husband so distraught as when he heard about the death of Dr Kelly, whose body was found in a beauty spot near his Oxfordshire home.

She also reveals that the Blairs invited the Kelly family to Chequers because "we wanted to say personally how very sorry we were".

But Mr Vawdrey told a newspaper: "It's a bit late for Cherie Blair to write that her husband 'knew David Kelly was a loyal public servant driven to despair because of the furore'. Where else was the furore created but in her husband's office, with all that wicked nonsense being fed to the media that Dai was a Walter Mitty character and so on?"

Mrs Blair's book has also been criticised by MPs who are signing a motion decrying the current spate of political memoirs, which includes frank accounts by John Prescott, the former deputy prime minister, and Lord Levy, Tony Blair's former fundraiser.

Dr Ian Gibson, the MP for Norwich, condemned Mrs Blair for using the Kelly story in her memoirs, expected to fetch up to 1 million.

Dr Kelly's wife, Jan, has maintained silence over her husband's death, speaking publicly only in evidence to the 2003 Hutton Inquiry on the matter. Shortly after his body was found, in July 2003, she issued a statement on behalf of herself and the couple's daughters, Sian, Rachel and Ellen, saying events had made Dr Kelly's life "intolerable".

Mrs Kelly's MP, Conservative Ed Vaizey, said he believed Mrs Kelly would prefer people not to talk about her husband's death.

He said: "It is up to Cherie Blair to decide whether or not it is appropriate to write about this.

"Jan Kelly has never talked about this publicly or privately."