'Insufficient evidence' for cash-for-honours charges
Friday, 20 July 2007
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No charges will be brought over the cash-for-honours scandal, the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed today.
Head of the organisation's Special Crime Division, Carmen Dowd, said there was insufficient evidence for prosecutors to expect they could win a conviction in court.
Ms Dowd said: "Having considered all of the evidence in this case I have decided that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against any individual for any offence in relation to this matter."
The CPS published a nine-page document explaining its decision.
It said that political or public opinion had played no part in its analysis of the facts, or in its decision-making.
There was no direct evidence that an agreement was reached between any of the parties to exchange an honour in return for a loan, it said.
The CPS was also satisfied "beyond doubt" that "the available evidence is not sufficient to enable an overwhelming inference to be drawn" that there was such an agreement.
Suspects at the centre of the scandal expressed delight today.
Tony Blair's personal fundraiser Lord Levy, one of four people arrested by detectives during the inquiry, said he was "sincerely delighted and relieved" that he would not face any charges.
And while he did not comment on the police's conduct of the inquiry, he hit out at a series of "misleading, factually inaccurate and personally damaging" leaks.
Senior Downing Street aide John McTernan said he was "massively relieved".
Mr McTernan, who was interviewed under caution by detectives, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We always maintained privately that it would come to this point because we had never done anything wrong.
"I think it is all over and the police in my experience were scrupulously fair in the way they treated me. I believe they did the same with my colleagues."
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he hoped the decision would "bring an end to what has been now months of speculation".
Asked about party funding during an official visit to Paris, he said: "Proposals are already on the table and we should move ahead to try and get a better system of political funding in our country."
The Metropolitan Police inquiry was launched in March last year after allegations from Scottish National Party MP Angus MacNeil that four wealthy individuals had been nominated for peerages after lending Labour large sums of money.
The individuals were among 12 rich backers who together bankrolled Labour's 2005 General Election campaign with loans worth almost £14 million.
Mr Blair was questioned three times by police during the course of the investigation - always as a witness, not a suspect.
Four people were arrested, Mr McTernan, Lord Levy, Downing Street aide Ruth Turner and biotech tycoon Sir Christopher Evans, who lent Labour £1 million.
The CPS decision not charge anyone after a police inquiry which cost more than £750,000 was greeted with anger both by those who initially demanded the probe and Labour MPs furious it had been allowed to drag on for 13 months.
Mr MacNeil said it would be "extraordinary" if the affair came to nothing.
Labour's Tony Wright, chairman of the Public Administration Committee, said no charges would represent "disaster for the police and a disaster for the political system".
He said the call for a probe was an SNP "stunt" which the police took seriously - and then found themselves under pressure to "get something out of it".
"It's done great damage to our political system. Our system is fundamentally clean," he added.
"It needs eternal vigilance but basically political issues need to be resolved by the political system."
The probe was led by Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates, who headed a team from Scotland Yard's Specialist Crime Directorate which gathered more than 6,000 documents before handing a file to the CPS in April.
Some observers believe the inquiry contributed to Mr Blair leaving Downing Street earlier than intended and cost Labour votes in May's elections in Scotland, Wales and local English councils.
Arrested during the inquiry
The Fundraiser
Lord Levy, Mr Blair's chief fundraiser, was arrested twice, on 12 July 2006 and 31 January. It was reported he argued with Ruth Turner over his attempts to distance himself from the appointment of peers. He was seen as the most likely to 'take the bullet' for the affair.
The Gatekeeper
Ruth Turner, 36, is an ultra-loyal Blairite. She was plucked from the ruling national executive to work at Downing Street because of a reputation for loyalty. She was arrested on 19 January on suspicion of offences under the Honours (Prevention of Abuse) Act.
The Teacher
In April 2006 Des Smith, a head teacher who helped find sponsors for the Government's flagship city academies programme, was arrested and questioned. In February 2007 the Crown Prosecution Service said there would not be any charges against Mr Smith, due to 'insufficient evidence'.
The Lender
The biotech boss Sir Christopher Evans, who lent Labour money, was arrested and interviewed on 21 September 2006. He reacted with fury, saying: 'If I thought for one moment I would be placed in this embarrassing and mind-boggling position I wouldn't have made the loan.'
