No 10 aide arrested over honours

Paul Owen

The “cash-for-honours” inquiry took a dramatic new twist today as a key Downing Street aide was arrested by police.

Ruth Turner, director of government relations, was arrested at her home in London under the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925 and also on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

Police said that she was interviewed at a London police station and bailed to return at a later date “pending further enquiries”.

In a statement released by No 10, Ms Turner said: “I absolutely refute any allegations of wrongdoing of any nature whatsoever.”

A Downing Street spokeswoman said the prime minister had “full confidence” in Ms Turner and that she still remained in her job.
The prime minister, Tony Blair, said, in a statement released by 10 Downing Street: “Ruth is a person of the highest integrity for whom I have great regard and I continue to have complete confidence in her.”

The news came as it emerged that the attorney general had overruled one of the prime minister’s closest allies, the lord chancellor, Lord Falconer, in refusing to relinquish his right to intervene in the inquiry.

“No other minister, however distinguished or senior, has the ability to bind the attorney general in how he exercises his role,” Lord Goldsmith said.

MPs learned of his refusal to stand aside from the proceedings in fresh evidence released by the constitutional affairs committee today.

Lord Falconer had assured the committee that the attorney general would not interfere in the decision of whether to bring prosecutions against anyone in the “cash-for-honours” inquiry.

Andrew Tyrie, a Conservative member of the committee, asked Lord Falconer whether he could “give the public an assurance that the attorney general will not interfere in any way with the conclusions of the DPP [the director of public prosecutions, Ken Macdonald] and that the DPP would be permitted … to take any decisions for prosecution wholly independent of the attorney general”.

Lord Falconer told the committee: “Of course. It’s a matter for the DPP and the Crown Prosecution Service to make decisions in relation to this in the normal way and, of course, the attorney general would not interfere in the normal course of decisions being made.”

Having then heard Lord Goldsmith make statements suggesting that he reserved the right to involve himself in such a decision, the committee wrote to the lord chancellor for clarification.

Both the lord chancellor and Lord Goldsmith then wrote back to the committee.

Lord Goldsmith told them: “I know the lord chancellor well understands that he was not in a position to give an ‘assurance’, as you have termed it, as to how I would act.”

The attorney general’s personal consent is required to proceed with prosecutions for certain types of offences, including corruption.

In a letter to Dominic Grieve, the shadow attorney general, in November, Lord Goldsmith said: “In such cases the need for my consent (or that of the solicitor general) is an essential legal condition. It is not one which can be avoided.”

In a letter to Alan Beith, the chairman of the constitutional affairs committee, Lord Goldsmith said that “the doctrine of collective [cabinet] responsibility does not apply to such decisions”.

Asked why the committee had chosen to release the evidence today, a spokeswoman said: “In this case, as in many others, I am afraid it is not strategic, it just depends on when the committee meets and agrees it and then how long it takes to physically publish.”

The constitutional affairs committee has been investigating the attorney general’s constitutional role regarding this and other matters since December 21.

It is due to take oral evidence in February.

In a statement, the police described the arrest as a “new development”, adding that “additional investigation would be required before a final file [on the case] can be submitted to the CPS”.

MPs had expected the file to be submitted this month, according to the Press Associaton news agency.

In December, Mr Blair became the first serving prime minister to be interviewed by police as part of a criminal investigation.

He was interviewed as a witness and not as a potential suspect.

The Scotland Yard investigation was sparked by claims early last year that wealthy Labour backers were being rewarded with seats in the House of Lords in return for providing secret loans.

The scope of the inquiry was then widened to cover similar claims about the Conservatives.

Others arrested so far in connection with the inquiry have included Labour’s unofficial fundraising chief, Lord Levy, with many others questioned.

However, so far there have been no charges.

The head of the public standards watchdog attacked Labour and the Tories yesterday over the £30m of loans used to fund their general election campaigns.

Sir Alistair Graham said: “I have no doubt, when these loans were being made, people thought ‘Hopefully we will be able to lengthen the length of time over which the loan is repaid or we may be able to translate it into a donation’.”