Thanks to the Mail for pursuing this important case. Troubling: Dr David Kelly The death of Dr David Kelly still worries many thoughtful people. It is easy to see why. Dr Kelly’s concerns about the Government’s case for war in Iraq began a storm of controversy at a very inconvenient moment for Downing Street. They stirred up the wrath of New Labour’s vengeful and ruthless propaganda machine. These events led to a sort of show trial of a public servant with a fine reputation and a long record of diligence and competence – who, paradoxically, shared the Government’s concerns about Saddam Hussein. But there was never any satisfactory ­conclusion to this process. Dr Kelly never felt able to speak fully in his own defence. His close family, as is their right, have always preferred to stay silent about his feelings and about what pressures may have been placed upon him in his final days. His violent death therefore deprives us of essential information about one of the most important political and military ­controversies of our age. This would be troubling under any circumstances. But it is made far more perplexing by the cloud of doubt which surrounds the event itself. No proper inquest was ever held, itself an extra­ordinary circumstance.