Is that blood running through Geoff Hoon’s veins, or is it refrigerant gas?

Various explanations have been offered for the decision by the Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, to leave for his summer holiday before the funeral this week of Dr David Kelly. Mr Hoon himself has let it be known via ‘friends’ that he would be in trouble with his wife Elaine if he delayed a holiday that was already planned. Others have speculated that he would not have been welcome at Dr Kelly’s funeral.

It is possible that the speculation is accurate, but I wonder. One does not, so far as I know, need permission, still less an invitation, to attend a funeral, but if Mr Hoon felt that his presence might be upsetting to the late Dr Kelly’s family, it would have been open to him to say that, given his inevitable closeness to the events leading up to Dr Kelly’s death, and the charges and counter-charges flying about in the media, the Defence Secretary felt it might be tactless and a distraction to intrude.