Newspaper says Blair's government has leaked key information
Copyright 1998 Nando.net
Copyright 1998 Reuters News Service
LONDON (July 5, 1998 00:09 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) -
Britain's Conservative opposition said on Sunday it would press Prime
Minister Tony Blair for an explanation after a newspaper report that
lobbyists close to the ruling Labour party were offering advance access
to secret government information.
The Observer, in a front-page story Sunday headlined "New Labour
insiders offer secrets for cash," said its undercover investigation
showed former aides to Blair and other top Labour figures were offering
advance texts of speeches and decisions, and access to ministers.
The newspaper said its report was based on taped telephone conversations
and face-to-face meetings with lobbyists conducted by Gregory Palast, a
New York-based correspondent who said he was representing U.S. companies
trying to enter the British market.
One lobbyist was quoted in the article as boasting he gave a banking
client advance word on government spending plans for the next three
years, announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown last month.
The client was identified by the Observer as U.S. investment bank
Salomon Smith Barney, which declined to comment on the story. The
newspaper said there was no suggestion the bank had sought inside
information or acted upon it.
The lobbyist was quoted as boasting he had been able to leak to the bank
the fact that Brown was to set the growth of public spending at 2.75
percent a year rather than the 2.5 percent widely expected.
If the bank had acted on the market-sensitive information, "they'd have
made a fortune," the lobbyist was quoted as saying.
Conservative Trade and Industry spokesman John Redwood challenged Blair
to explain the allegations, saying in a press statement: "It is
disgraceful if people are selling Government secrets for private gain
and pre-empting parliament."
He said his party would question the government on the story in
parliament on Monday.
The Observer said one lobbying firm had passed on to it an advance copy
of a highly sensitive report by a parliamentary select committee into
energy policy - something which would technically be contempt of
parliament.
Other lobbyists were quoted in the story as promising easy access to
ministers and to influential senior advisers to Blair and Brown.
Blair's government, which has prided itself on its close ties to
business, has already ridden out one crisis over allegations of
influence-peddling.
The Labour party was forced to return 1 million pounds given it by
Formula One motor racing boss Bernie Ecclestone last year after the
government softened its line against tobacco advertising.
Blair had to go on television and deny there was any link between the
donation and the decision.
The government has frequently been criticized in parliament for leaking
decisions before it announces them to the House of Commons.
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