He later named Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's director of communications, as responsible.After Dr Kelly's apparent suicide, the BBC admitted he was the main source for Mr Gilligan and Ms Watts in their reports about the Government's claims over Iraq's arsenal. On Newsnight on 2 June, Ms Watts used an actor's voice to speak Dr Kelly's words. On the 45-minute warning, her source said: "It was a statement that was made and it got out of all proportion. That was one that popped up and it was seized on and it's unfortunate that it was."In its battle with the Downing Street machine, the BBC has repeatedly drawn attention to Ms Watts' coverage. At first glance, the Newsnight report appears to back up Mr Gilligan's allegation.But No 10 officials are convinced that Ms Watts' reports will support their case that Mr Gilligan's original claim was wrong. In its evidence to the judicial inquiry to be headed by Lord Hutton, the Government will cite another report by Ms Watts on 4 June.

She said then: "Our source was not disputing that the 45-minute assessment was included in the dossier by the intelligence services, although he did say he felt that to have been a mistake."The Government will also tell Lord Hutton that Ms Watts did not repeat Mr Gilligan's claim that Mr Campbell "sexed up" the dossierThe BBC will argue that Dr Kelly gave Mr Gilligan different information to Ms Watts and Gavin Hewitt, who reported the story for the 10 O'Clock News on BBC1. A BBC source said: "I believe we can prove that Dr Kelly did say to Mr Gilligan things that he did not say to Susan Watts or Gavin Hewitt. The contemporaneous notes are good and we believe that we have found some quite strong circumstantial, corroborative evidence."The BBC team preparing for the inquiry is headed by Mark Damazer, the deputy director of news.While standing by Mr Gilligan's report, the BBC will admit that mistakes were made by BBC presenters when they discussed it.. The London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, claimed victory yesterday after he was cleared of accusations of bringing his office into disrepute in a drunken scuffle at a party. Mr Livingstone was exonerated "on the balance of probability" of claims of misconduct and misleading his office about the alleged incident last year. The verdict ended a 12-month inquiry by the Standards Board for England, the local government watchdog. Reports in the London Evening Standard claimed the Mayor had manhandled his girlfriend, Emma Beal, at a party in May last year, for allegedly smoking while she was pregnant. Robin Hedges, a Standard employee who was also at the party, was injured in a 15ft fall down a stairwell.The investigation was launched under the Local Government Act 2000, upon referral to the board by the Liberal Democrats, amid claims that he had misled the London Assembly when he was questioned by members last year.Mr Livingstone said: "This episode has been extremely distressing and unpleasant but I am glad the matter is closed.

I told the truth throughout and I am very pleased this investigation has confirmed that."Veronica Wadley, the Standard's editor, said the inquiry failed to shed light on Mr Hedges' fall or why the Mayor reportedly gave no explanation to emergency services.. Another row blew up between the Government and the BBC yesterday after a Home Office minister accused the corporation of "trivialising" asylum in a special day of programmes on the issue. She condemned the You the Judge programme, which showed examples of real-life asylum-seekers and gave viewers the chance to vote on whether they should be granted refugee status. She said: "Applying the immigration rules is about upholding public policy agreed by Parliament Making decisions on asylum claims is not a game show ...

This trivialises the real consequences of asylum decisions for real people, sometimes literally life and death."A corporation spokesman said: "You The Judge is not a game show; there are no contestants and no prizes."The programme will explore this complex issue in serious, responsible and accessible way. We will be giving viewers the same information that was available to the immigration officers who dealt with these cases."Our aim is that viewers will gain a greater understanding of this important issue."Ms Hughes also attacked last night's Panorama special, in which a reporter posed as an asylum seeker from Moldova and entered the black economy after arriving in Britain without papers.. David Kelly's widow, Janice, summoned Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, to see her yesterday to demand an explanation of his role in the events leading to her husband's apparent suicide. It throws doubt on government comments before his death designed to portray him merely as a relatively junior technician.Dr Kelly was a consultant to the Defence Intelligence Analysis Staff, which can draw upon classified information provided by the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), MI5, GCHQ, military intelligence and material supplied by allied espionage services.