Sunday, March 04, 2007

Email led to BBC legal gag in cash for honours probe

The Independent newspaper are reporting that it was, in fact, an email that caused investigators in the Cash for Honours scandal to ask the Attorney General to gag the BBC.

As I reported yesterday, Ian Dale was hinting at such an email and, although he says he knows who is the subject of the email, he was refusing to actually name whoever that was.

The Independent are saying:

Detectives in charge of the cash-for-honours investigation gagged the BBC because it was about to reveal details of a significant email, The Independent on Sunday has learnt.

The existence of the email is thought to explain why police switched their attention from the alleged sale of honours to claims that there had been a subsequent cover-up.

Senior BBC sources last night indicated that it would not be seeking to overturn an injunction imposed on Friday night after an application by the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, who said releasing details of the communication, believed to be known by the BBC political editor Nick Robinson, would harm the inquiry.

The injunction suggests the police are about to send their final files - together with a recommendation about whether to prosecute - to the Crown Prosecution Service.

This newspaper has been told that Tony Blair expects the year-long investigation to come to an end this week.

What we know for certain is that the Metropolitan Police sought the injunction because they feared public knowledge of the email's contents could "impede their inquiries".

And I notice that Scotland on Sunday have picked up on the point that, with so many people inside the BBC knowing the name that the email refers to, "police would have to make their next move very soon."

And, as the email is said to be between "two members of the Downing Street inner circle", the next week promises to be an interesting one.

And it does begin to sound as if any charges will relate to a cover up rather than to the sale of honours.

Click title for full article.

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