A key aide to Prime Minister Tony Blair, pictured, insisted Tuesday he had done nothing wrong over a cash-for-honours row clouding the British leader's last months in office, as fresh allegations emerged.(AFP/Pool/Simon Dawson)
Posted on 03/06/2007 4:29:14 PM PST by NormsRevenge
LONDON (AFP) - A key aide to Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted Tuesday he had done nothing wrong over a cash-for-honours row clouding the British leader's last months in office, as fresh allegations emerged.
Lord Michael Levy, Blair's Middle East envoy and the governing Labour Party's chief fundraiser, criticised "inaccurate" reporting of the affair, in a statement issued through his lawyers.
"Lord Levy categorically denies any wrong-doing whatsoever, as he has throughout this lengthy police investigation.
"The current round of articles in the media, which are said to be based on leaked material under consideration by the police, are partial, contradictory, confused and inaccurate," he added.
Lord Levy's statement came after The Guardian newspaper reported Tuesday that police were probing whether Levy had tried to "shape evidence" in the investigation.
The "cash for honours" probe centres on allegations that political parties -- mainly Labour -- offered seats in Britain's unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords, in return for financial assistance.
Blair -- due to stand down this year -- has been questioned by police twice as a witness.
Two senior aides, Levy and Downing Street director of government relations Ruth Turner, have been arrested during the inquiry, though neither has been charged.
The Guardian report said detectives were probing what happened at a meeting between Turner and Levy last year -- details of which she gave to her lawyers and which have been given to police.
"Police have been investigating whether Ruth Turner... was being asked by Lord Levy to modify the information that might have been of interest to the inquiry," the newspaper said.
Turner was concerned that Levy's account of his role in drawing up the list of people due to get honours was "untrue", BBC television reported.
She expressed concern about his comments in a document and thought Blair should be told, the BBC added, quoting an unnamed source.
It was these claims which prompted the government's most senior legal advisor, Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith, to obtain an injunction Friday to prevent broadcast, the BBC said.
A judge only lifted that injunction on Tuesday following The Guardian's story.
Blair remained tightlipped about the affair Tuesday. Asked by reporters whether he retained full confidence in Turner and Levy, Blair replied: "I have got absolutely nothing whatever to say on this issue."
There has been speculation over an alleged cover-up at the heart of government -- amid comparisons with Watergate, when the attempt to hide the facts was more important than the crime at the heart of the story.
Turner, 36, was arrested in January on suspicion of breaching legislation that outlaws the sale of seats in the Lords and perverting the course of justice.
Levy, 62, has also been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Both have repeatedly denied the allegations against them.
British law puts strict limits on what information can be released during the course of a police investigation in a bid to prevent prejudicing the outcome of any future trial.
The Metropolitan Police accepted Tuesday that, given that the Guardian had already published the story, it was "no longer tenable or appropriate" for the force to keep other media gagged.
"However, we remain concerned that the reporting of certain aspects of this information could undermine the investigation," it said in a statement.
A key aide to Prime Minister Tony Blair, pictured, insisted Tuesday he had done nothing wrong over a cash-for-honours row clouding the British leader's last months in office, as fresh allegations emerged.(AFP/Pool/Simon Dawson)
Lord Michael Levy, seen here in 2006, Tony Blair's Middle East envoy and the governing Labour Party's chief fundraiser, criticised "inaccurate" reporting of the affair, in a statement issued through his lawyers.(AFP/File/Eddie Keogh)
Police are probing whether Prime Minister Tony Blair's aide, Ruth Turner, seen here in January 2007, tried to "shape evidence" in a cash-for-honours investigation clouding his last months in office.(AFP/File/Shaun Curry)
Michael Levy, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair's chief fundraiser, leaves his home in north London March 6, 2007. Levy asked another aide to lie to police probing a party political funding scandal, the BBC said on Tuesday after a reporting ban was lifted. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor (BRITAIN)
Does anyone know who's behind this fuss? Is it the Maoists in Blair's own Party,or the Tories...who?
It is Blair's own unwise conduct in making large campaign contributions illegal, and then trying to get around the law to raise lots of money for Labour Party campaigns.
Of course, since the Labour government controls the police, it is rather ridiculous for the police to be investigating them.
Which is not to say there won't be prosecutions. All the evidence suggests the police are pursuing this with vigour and independence - nothing the government can do to stop them.
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