Thom Yorke blasts Blair

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has launched a withering attack on Prime Minister Tony Blair and his government following last week's publication of the Hutton Report.

Writing in the Guardian Yorke said he was left shaking his head 'in disbelief and anger' at the way Blair and his ministers were found to be blameless by Lord Hutton. He is also enraged that the BBC were made to carry the can for suggesting the government 'sexed-up' the Weapons of Mass Destruction capability of Saddam Hussein as their basis for going to war with Iraq. Yorke has been consistently vocal in his opposition to the conflict.

'When the Hutton report arrived this week, I expected Geoff Hoon to have to resign. I expected, at the very least, a grovelling apology from Tony Blair. I had been looking forward to this for months,' he wrote. 'Instead, I have had to stomach the gloating and moralising of Blair, Hoon and Alastair Campbell as the establishment of this godforsaken country closes ranks to protect itself, its intelligence services and the oh so wonderful MoD.'

He added: 'Lord Hutton's damning report of the BBC is a whitewash.'

The BBC chairman Gavyn Davis and popular Director General Greg Dyke both resigned following the report's publication. They accepted responsibility for reporter Andrew Gilligan's radio story that suggested the government went to war on an untruth.

'I still cannot see why Gavyn Davies and Greg Dyke have had to resign,' wrote Yorke. 'It flies in the face of reality, ripping all evidence to shreds.'

But Yorke saved most of his venom for Tony Blair.

'He has made a very dangerous political mistake which endangers global stability and has sent thousands to their deaths. He tells us that he will be judged by his maker. Well, he certainly wasn't judged by Hutton, was he?,' he said.document.write(unescape("