By Jean Eaglesham and Christopher Adams
Published: May 12 2004 5:00 | Last Updated: May 12 2004 5:00
Unease within the government over Iraq was exacerbated yesterday when Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, adopted a markedly different line to Number 10.
Mr Straw did not hide his anger that he was not given the Red Cross report on prisoner abuses until a few days ago. It was clear "with hindsight" that officials should have given it to ministers as soon as they received it in February, he said.
Downing Street, however, in attempting to defend the handling of the report, put the blame largely on the Red Cross's insistence that its findings remain confidential. Tony Blair's spokesman said: "A judgment was taken by officials that . . . it would be wrong to breach confidentiality further by showing it to ministers."
Number 10 also tried to play down a suggestion by Geoff Hoon, defence secretary, that Adam Ingram, armed forces minister, would tomorrow be "clarifying" his claim last week that the government had received no warnings about abuse from outside bodies.
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http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1083180438921Things are ugly in the UK, too.