British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon today denied he had been part of a "conspiracy" to publicly name the government weapons scientist David Kelly.
Giving evidence to the Hutton Inquiry into the scientist's death, Mr Hoon said the decision to issue a public statement had been taken by a group of senior officials meeting in the Cabinet Office.
He also said he had not seen the instructions drawn up for officials in the Ministry of Defence press office telling them that they could confirm Dr Kelly's identity if journalists came up with the right name.
The Hutton Inquiry was set up to investigate how Dr Kelly apparently came to take his own life after being identified as the source of a BBC story claiming the Government had "sexed up" its dossier on Iraqi weapons.
Throughout his appearance at the inquiry Mr Hoon was at pains to distance himself from key decisions which led to Dr Kelly's name appearing in the press after the scientist came forward to say that he had had an unauthorised meeting with the BBC journalist Mr Andrew Gilligan, who broke the story.
Mr Hoon said that dealing with personnel issues in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) - such as any disciplinary action against Dr Kelly - had been the responsibility of the Permanent Secretary, Sir Kevin Tebbit.
The wider issues concerned had been a matter for other departments - including Downing Street and the Cabinet Office - as much as they were for the MoD, Mr Hoon insisted.
"The MoD were the lead department as far as dealing with Dr Kelly on a personnel basis," he said.
"Equally there were clearly wider implications of what was happening as far the Government as a whole was concerned. That is why the Cabinet Office and Downing Street were concerned."
He said that the key decision to issue a press statement disclosing that an unnamed official had come forward who could be Mr Gilligan's source had been taken in the Cabinet Office on July 8th.
His own role had been to write a letter to the chairman of the BBC Board of Governors Gavyn Davies offering to name Dr Kelly in confidence on the basis that the BBC would immediately confirm or deny that he was the source.
"I think that came out of the meeting in the Cabinet Office involving Sir David Omand (the intelligence and security co-ordinator) and others," he said.
"I was simply given a message that it was now appropriate for me to write to the chairman of the Governors."
He said that throughout he had believed that Dr Kelly's name should not be made public unless they were actually certain he was the source of the BBC story.
PA