Attorney General halts BBC probe

[pescao]

what dirt do they have - the cover-up? please let this get out!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6414113.stm

Last Updated: Friday, 2 March 2007, 22:11 GMT

The Attorney General has obtained an injunction against the BBC to stop it broadcasting an item about the cash for honours investigation.

The injunction was obtained on Friday night at a hearing which lasted around two hours at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

The Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, was successful in obtaining an injunction against the BBC.

The BBC said its reporting of the story is a matter of public interest.

[rosesaylavee]

1. Kick.

Enquiring minds want to know. Bet some wise one leaks it to the internet.

[Ghost Dog]

3. Definitely. Who controls the BBC?

They are looking for very serious trouble, if I (although long self-exiled in mainland Europe) still know my countrymen. And women.

Watch this space. :eyes:

[aggiesal]

9. Who controls the BBC? ...

For those who don't know, as I understand it
the BBC is like our NPR and PBS.

Except the British citizens have to pay a tax on every TV in their home (TV Tax).
The tax collected goes directly to fund the BBC. So it's government paid for.

It's alot like PBS here in the states, except we pledge money, out our discretion,
while the British are mandated to pay the TV tax.

Sucks that the Court (run by government) shutdown the BBC story (run by government),
argued by a government official (Attorney General).

It appears you're British. Please feel free to correct if wrong. Thanks!

[Applan]

13. Not a tax in that sense

The license fee, although mandated by the government, actually goes direct to the BBC. The government do not control the financing and, likewise, do not control the programming of the BBC although I'm sure they attempt to influence it. The only part of the BBC that is paid for by a government grant is the BBC World Service Radio network.
That's my understanding.
Each household only pays one fee however many tellys they have.

[Spazito]

2. Wow, Lord Goldsmith and Alberto Gonzales are clones!

Both of them are ignoring the oath they took to serve the people and NOT the party in power.

[pescao]

4. totally!

he's the one who mysteriously changed his position on the legality of the war overnight. and now, he's already said that he wouldn't excuse himself (as top government lawyer) when it comes to deciding if charges are going to be brought against members of the government relating to cash-for-honours. what a scumbag!

but the question remains - what do the BBC have? must be heavy stuff. someone leak it and bring this government down, now!

AP have picked up the story: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/02/europe/EU-GEN-Britain-Report-Banned.php

BBC prevented from reporting on cash-for-honors probe
The Associated Press

LONDON: Britain's attorney-general obtained an injunction Friday to prevent the British Broadcasting Corp. from broadcasting a story about a police investigation into alleged corruption in the political honors system, the BBC reported.

The injunction was requested by police probing allegations that honors — including seats in the House of Lords and knighthoods — were given in exchange for loans to the Labour or Conservative parties.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement that there were concerns that disclosure of information would impede the investigation, and that Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general, was acting "completely independently of government and in his independent public interest capacity."

The BBC said in a statement that its report was a "legitimate matter of public interest."

[truebrit71]

5. Very interesting. The AG sort of has a point though...

..if it's an ongoing investigation it might foul things up....of course, a cynical bastard like myself might posit that the AG got a phone call and a very nice offer to intervene on 'someone's' behalf... :eyes:

[pescao]

10. goldsmith is up to his neck in this

he's blair's lawyer - total conflict of interest!

and this is clearly in the public interest, just like the watergate reporting was in the public interest. similarly, the original crime was quite minor, it's the cover-up which will sink 'em, hopefully.

[stillcool]

6. Makes me wonder what else Jack Abramoff...

and Tom Delay were doing in Britain...other than playing golf...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4812822.stm

Last Updated: Tuesday, 6 February 2007, 14:51 GMT
E-mail this to a friend Printable version
Q&A: Cash for peerages affair
Police are investigating whether cash has been donated to political parties in exchange for peerages. All involved deny any wrongdoing. Here is our guide to the affair.

What is the police inquiry all about?

Scotland Yard is investigating claims that laws made in 1925 banning the sale of honours have been broken by political parties giving peerages in return for donations and loans. They are also investigating whether a law made in 2000 which says that all donations of more than £5,000 must be declared, was breached. During the investigation, the police have also asked questions about alleged conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. All concerned in the inquiry deny wrongdoing. Nobody has been charged.

READ MORE ON WHAT THE LAWS SAY

What prompted the investigation?

It emerged last year that a number of large secret loans had been made to the Labour Party before the 2005 General Election, and that some of those lenders had subsequently been nominated for peerages. The investigation has since widened to cover the other main parties.

What has happened so far?

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates wrote a letter, dated 13 November 2006, saying that "significant and valuable material" had been gathered after 90 people were interviewed. He told Commons public administration committee chairman Tony Wright that he expected to pass a file to the Crown Prosecution Service in January.

Who was most recently arrested?

Tony Blair's chief fundraiser Lord Levy has been arrested for a second time, on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. He was released without charge. It follows his arrest last year in connection with allegations had been sold. Lord Levy firmly denies any wrongdoing.

[pescao]

7. lord "cashpoint" levy is the key to the affair

edited to add: "cashpoint" = "ATM" in britspeak

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23384185-details/Levy:%20I'm%20not%20going%20to%20swing%20for%20Tony%20Blair/article.do

Levy: I'm not going to swing for Tony Blair
03.02.07

Tony Blair's chief fund-raiser Lord Levy is ready to tell the police that the Prime Minister is to blame for the cash-for-peerages scandal.

The Labour peer is furious that he has become the prime suspect.

And he is ready to defend himself by arguing that Mr Blair, not him, should be made to take full responsibility for the affair.

...

The development came amid reports that one of the Downing Street suspects at the heart of the scandal has been "singing like a canary" to police to get themselves off the hook.

...

Having set out to investigate whether Labour effectively sold peerages in return for party loans, the focus of the investigation has switched to an alleged cover-up.

It is said that secret Downing Street emails stored on a secondary computer system used by Mr Blair's aides may have been destroyed in an attempt to hide key evidence.

Friends of Lord Levy are also concerned at the effect the scandal is having on him.

He has tried to maintain a characteristically jovial front, even turning up at a fancy-dress party in a hat with his nickname, Lord Cashpoint, emblazoned across it.

But away from the public glare, it is a different story.

...

[pescao]

8. heating up on google - will someone in the bbc please leak the story, this could take blair out!

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/article/020307/bbc_cash_for_honours_story_banned

Injunction for BBC cash-for-honours story

The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, has obtained an injunction barring the BBC from broadcasting a story about the cash-for-honours inquiry.

The injunction was granted around an hour before the first planned broadcast of a story on Friday's 10 O'Clock News on BBC One.

A spokesman for Goldsmith said the move was taken in response to a request from the Metropolitan Police, which has been engaged in a year-long investigation into claims that peerages were offered in return for financial support for political parties.

He said: "The application for an injunction was made by the attorney general this afternoon at the specific request of —and in co-operation with — the police, because of their concern that disclosure of certain information at this stage would impede their inquiries."

...

The hearing is understood to be the first time that an injunction has been either sought or granted in the cash-for-honours affair.


and from the evening standard's website (from the PA, i think):

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23387535-details/BBC+prevented+from+broadcasting+on+cash-for-honours/article.do

BBC prevented from broadcasting on cash-for-honours

Attorney General Lord Goldsmith has obtained an injunction barring the BBC from broadcasting a story about the cash-for-honours inquiry.

...

Lord Goldsmith - a member of the Cabinet - was acting independently of the Government in seeking the injunction, said the spokesman.

...

A Downing Street source told PA that the first No 10 knew that an injunction had either been sought or granted was when they saw the 10 O'Clock News.

...

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said that the implication of tonight's injunction was that Lord Goldsmith thought it possible there may be a prosecution in the cash-for-honours affair.

...

So far, four people have been arrested - Prime Minister Tony Blair's personal fundraiser Lord Levy, Downing Street aide Ruth Turner, Labour donor Sir Christopher Evans and former headteacher Des Smith - but there have been no charges.

...

Mr Blair himself has been interviewed twice by police, both times as a witness, not a suspect. He has not been arrested or interviewed under caution.


http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article2323479.ece

High Court blocks BBC report on 'cash for honours'

The cash for honours affair took a dramatic new twist last night after the Attorney General secured a High Court injunction banning the BBC from broadcasting a report on the controversy.

The Corporation dropped a report on the 10 O'Clock News after Lord Goldsmith - a member of the Cabinet and the Government's most senior law officer - won a High Court injunction preventing the broadcast at a two-hour hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

The BBC insisted that its report was in the public interest, but a spokesman for the Attorney General said he had acted at the request of police amid fears that releasing information would impede their inquiries.

...

Last month the Prime Minister was questioned by police for a second time, but news of the interview was kept secret for almost a week at the request of detectives. The year-long police inquiry appears to have moved on from the initial complaint that honours were sold to whether there was an attempt to cover up evidence relating to the claim.

[hootinholler]

11. Lord Goldsmith, what a wanker.

I wonder if he got his honours the old fashoned way? He bought it?

-Hoot

[w4rma]

12. Blair is a essentially a DLC politician in Britain. And he's just as corrupt. (nt)

[lovuian]

14. England is really become such a police state

Its truly scary its even worse than America

[pescao]

15. injunction still in place, may be lifted this week. bbc: internal email at heart of banned story.

http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.1234278.0.bbc_injunction_to_be_lifted_this_week.php

BBC injunction to be lifted this week

Lawyers preparing urgent appeal against ruling

By James Cusick, Westminster Editor

SCOTLAND YARD'S injunction against the BBC, preventing it from broadcasting new details in the cash-for-honours investigation, is expected to be lifted this week when a team of detectives led by the assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, John Yates, has completed a new focus of its inquiry.

The BBC is understood to have intended to broadcast the identity of a person interviewed by the inquiry team who was subsequently ordered by police to respect a week-long news blackout.

New information given during that interview is being followed up by police and, during the two-hour injunction hearing at the High Court on Friday, they are said to have been determined their inquiry should not be derailed by disclosure by the BBC

...


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6416393.stm

No 10 e-mail basis of injunction

An internal Downing Street e-mail between two members of Tony Blair's inner circle is at the centre of an injunction against the BBC.

The Attorney General obtained an injunction against the BBC to stop it broadcasting an item on Friday night.

The details obtained by the BBC could have been central to the investigation into an alleged Downing Street cover-up over the cash for honours affair.

But the police were concerned that the BBC could hamper their inquiries.

...

[IndianaGreen]

16. This won't stop an investigation in which Blair has been questioned twice

Bets are that Blair will go down, and take the entire Labour Party down with him.

17. Hang on a second

This isn't necessarily as bad as it looks. The police have asked the Attorney General to obtain a temporary injunction preventing the immediate release of information that might prejudice the investigation into the government.

So, it appears that what Lord Goldsmith has been asked to do is in the public interest and against the Governments.

Now, I'm not suggesting for a second that he did it out of the good of his heart, but I don't think we can paint this as a significant effort by Blair to interrupt the investigation just yet.

[pescao]

18. the plot thickens

i smell spin

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,,2026590,00.html

Downing St blamed for cash for honours leak

David Hencke and Vikram Dodd
Monday March 5, 2007
The Guardian

The MP who triggered the cash for peerages criminal inquiry last night accused Downing Street of leaking vital evidence in the case to the media.

The allegation by Angus MacNeil followed a frenzied weekend of speculation after the BBC was banned by a judge from reporting a leaked email between Downing Street aides about the scandal.

...

Mr MacNeil's complaint a year ago that honours were being sold for cash led to the Scotland Yard inquiry menacing the last months of Tony Blair's government. He said: "Downing Street has shot itself in the foot over this. First they get into a problem over allegations of cash for honours, then they get accused of a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice over it; and now they seem to be involved in another conspiracy to cover the conspiracy. The effect of this leak has been to give the police more ammunition of an attempted cover-up."

...

The story centres round an email which involves Downing Street aides Ruth Turner and Lord Levy, Tony Blair's chief fundraiser. Its contents are alleged to be capable of being interpreted as revealing an attempt to cover up information that Scotland Yard was trying to gather, and thus allegedly amount to evidence of a potential conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. The injunction was sought because detectives feared airing the specific contents of the email would hinder the complex year-long investigation.

...

Yesterday the News of the World quoted the Crown Prosecution Service as saying: "We believe the leaks are coming from government sources, who are trying to disrupt the inquiry."

...


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/05/nemail05.xml

Email leak was 'to wreck honours inquiry'

By Andrew Pierce
Last Updated: 1:38am GMT 05/03/2007

Detectives believe they have foiled an attempt by Downing Street to wreck the cash-for-honours investigation after they obtained an injunction banning publication of a potentially explosive email about the inquiry.

The email from Ruth Turner, one of Tony Blair's most trusted aides, was to Jonathan Powell the No 10 chief of staff. It refers to Lord Levy the Prime Minister's personal fund raiser.

Detectives leading the 11-month investigation believe it was deliberately leaked to the BBC on Friday night to sabotage the inquiry.

When the BBC requested guidance from Scotland Yard about the email, senior officers immediately sought the assistance of Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General.

The inquiry team feared the publication of the contents of the email would drive a "coach and horses" through their investigation.

The "smoking-gun" email goes to the heart of the investigation into whether there has been a cover-up by people working at Downing Street.

...

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. "No 10 denies honours e-mail leak"

Downing Street has denied that information about the cash-for-honours affair was leaked by its staff.
...
The prime minister's official spokesman told reporters that suggestions of a No 10 leak were "just plain wrong".
...
The spokesman said on Monday that his assertion was not based on his "personal hunch" but "because there are inaccuracies in the reports which means it couldn't have come from No 10".

He refused to say what those inaccuracies were.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6419275.stm

[catgirl]

20. This is only going to stoke the fire

People don't like secrets. I hope Blair goes down before his term is up.

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. "Honours e-mail was sent by Turner"

The BBC can now say the e-mail that triggered the investigation into an alleged Downing Street cover-up was sent by Number 10 aide Ruth Turner.

It was sent to Tony Blair's chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, and concerned Labour's chief fundraiser Lord Levy.

The BBC is still barred from revealing the contents of the e-mail.

The injunction preventing the BBC from broadcasting a story about this e-mail - granted on Friday night - was amended on Monday afternoon.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6419275.stm

Turner was previously arrested, questioned on perverting the course of justice, and released.

[Doctor_J]

22. Is this what England's highest-ranking law enforcement officer spends time on?

Sounds like his job could be downsized.

[pescao]

23. guardian going out on a limb

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/funding/story/0,,2027366,00.html

Cash for honours: key document names Levy
Memo from Blair aide says peer tried to influence her evidence

Patrick Wintour
Tuesday March 6, 2007
The Guardian

Detectives are investigating whether Lord Levy, Labour's chief fundraiser, urged one of Tony Blair's most senior aides to shape the evidence she gave to Scotland Yard, the Guardian has learned.

Police have been investigating whether Ruth Turner, the prime minister's director of external relations, was being asked by Lord Levy to modify information that might have been of interest to the inquiry. Officers have been trying to piece together details of a meeting they had last year. Ms Turner gave an account of it to her lawyers and this has been passed to police.

It is this legal document and the exchange between Ms Turner and Lord Levy that has been at the heart of the inquiry in recent months, and which prompted the focus to shift from whether there was an effort to sell peerages to whether there has been a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

...

Their meeting is understood to have taken place in the summer, at the start of the police inquiry.

Sources have said the two had a difficult conversation. The police are attempting to establish whether this could be interpreted as Lord Levy having asked Ms Turner to adjust the evidence she was preparing to give the Metropolitan Police, whose inquiry has led to senior members of Downing Street staff - including the prime minister, Tony Blair - being questioned by detectives.

...


and also from tomorrow's paper:

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/funding/story/0,,2027421,00.html

Judge refuses to gag Guardian

Tuesday March 6, 2007
The Guardian

The Guardian last night successfully resisted an attempt by the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, to prevent the publication of today's lead story.

The attorney's lawyers had wanted to stop the paper from running an article which they argued was similar to the story they prevented the BBC running last Friday.

They demanded an undertaking that we wouldn't publish this story, though the Guardian was given no explanation of why this was necessary, or the nature of the legal problem.

The attorney's office also threatened to apply to the court for an injunction that would have stopped the story.

The Guardian resisted.

...

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. Injunction lifted: "Blair aide's 'concern over Levy'"

Tony Blair's aide Ruth Turner expressed concern Lord Levy put to her a version of his role in drawing up the honours list which she believed to be untrue.

The concern was put in a document which the BBC has not seen, but which has been supported by more than one source.

The injunction barring BBC reporting of the story was lifted on Tuesday.

Labour fundraiser Lord Levy denies "any wrong-doing whatsoever" and criticised the "prejudiced and distorted" picture presented by recent media reporting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6423225.stm