Another grilling for Hoon?

It’s looking like Geoff Hoon could be called to give evidence at yet another public hearing relating to the Iraq War.

The gaffe-prone former Defence Secretary has already had to give evidence at the Iraq War Inquiry, at which he claimed Gordon Brown had starved the Ministry of Defence of funds.

Then there was the Baha Mousa Inquiry, where he washed his hands of the death of an Iraqi detainee, and unceremoniously pointed the finger at his junior minister at the time.

With renewed calls for a full public inquest into the death of Dr David Kelly, who died while Hoon was Defence Secretary, we may get one last chance to go and watch the former Ashfield MP get grilled.

Ironically the key lies with Hoon’s former parliamentary colleague from Nottinghamshire Ken Clarke.

The Justice Secretary is now responsible for deciding whether the records of Dr Kelly’s post mortem – which Lord Hutton ordered be kept secret for 70 years – are released.

Clarke’s office told me this morning that the decision was under consideration, but no doubt the Tory cabinet minister will be happy to let the former Labour MP sweat for a few weeks more.