Tessa Jowell Olympic 'bribe' email plunges Labour into a fresh storm
By Miles Goslett
Last updated at 10:13 PM on 25th April 2009
Labour has been plunged into a fresh storm after a leaked email
suggested that Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell promised money from the
2012 Games in exchange for the selection of a family friend as a General
Election candidate.
Miss Jowell stands accused of trying to 'bribe' a private meeting in the
Erith and Thamesmead constituency by telling party members that if they
selected Georgia Gould as their candidate, the area would be in a good
position to benefit from the £9billion Olympics budget, which Miss
Jowell controls.
In an email, written the day after this month's meeting and seen by The
Mail on Sunday, 22-year-old Miss Gould - the daughter of Tony Blair's
poll guru Lord Gould - wrote: 'I hosted a great meeting last night for
Tessa Jowell, the Minister for the Olympics. Tessa spoke with real
passion about the opportunities for investment that will result from the
Olympics ...
'Tessa said it was the job of the local MP to fight for Erith &
Thamesmead and for future investment ... She was kind enough to say that
I was the right person to do this.'
Under Government rules, Ministers are banned from using Government
resources for party political purposes.
Last night, Tory MP Douglas Carswell said he would write to the Cabinet
Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell to demand an investigation into the
allegations.
'Labour seems to have trouble distinguishing party political matters
from official Government business,' he said. 'What was Ms Jowell doing
talking about the potential benefits of the Olympic Games to this
constituency at the same time as talking up her preferred Labour
candidate? I shall now be writing to the Cabinet Secretary.'
Tory Philip Davies, a member of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport
select committee, said: 'This sounds like a bribe to me. It's entirely
wrong for the Olympics Minister to use the promise of Olympics
investment as a tool to try to win a power struggle in the Labour
Party.'
Miss Jowell is one of several senior Labour figures connected to the
Gould family who have supported Miss Gould's bid to win selection to the
safe seat in a deprived part of South-East London.
The contest has been dogged by a bitter dispute between factions within
the party, with accusations of attempted vote-rigging and claims that
Miss Gould is exploiting her powerful political connections to guarantee
victory over local candidates.
Leaflets handed out to publicise the meeting read: 'Come and meet Tessa
Jowell MP (Olympics Minister) with Georgia Gould. Let's find out how we
can use our proximity to the Olympics to get more activities for
children and young people.'
Miss Jowell has repeatedly refused to confirm whether she attended the
meeting held on April 7 at a community centre in the constituency.
But a source at the meeting said: 'Tessa Jowell spent the first ten
minutes of the meeting talking about Georgia Gould, saying that she'd
known her for many years, saying they'd worked together, and that she
would make an excellent MP. She then spoke about the Olympics.'
Another source who was at the meeting said: 'She talked about jobs in
the area. She said Georgia Gould was a strong character who would make a
strong candidate.'
Sitting MP John Austin, whose impending retirement has triggered the
selection battle, last night criticised Miss Jowell.
He said: 'I do not think it is appropriate for another MP to be involved
in the selection process in another constituency. It should be a matter
for local party members.'
He has already made a formal complaint to Labour general secretary Ray
Collins about the fact that Miss Jowell defied parliamentary convention
by making the April 7 speech backing Miss Gould in his constituency
without telling him.
Mr Austin, MP for the seat since 1997, has also complained about alleged
rule breaches by campaigners encouraging local members to sign up for
postal votes.
There have also been claims that Miss Gould promised support for a
controversial 'faith' school in the area.
The Labour parliamentary selection process in Erith and Thamesmead was
mired in controversy last weekend after a ballot box containing votes
was broken into at the party's national headquarters in London.
In an apparent act of sabotage, some of the 95 postal votes in the box
had been torn, forcing the contest, which involves seven other
candidates and was meant to have concluded on April 18, to be rerun in
the coming weeks.
In a further twist, it has come to light that the home of the Labour
official in charge of looking after the ballot box, Mike Crighton, was
burgled this month, removing him from Labour HQ for two days while he
dealt with the aftermath of the crime. It was during this time that the
ballot box was interfered with.
Although he confirmed the break-in, Mr Crighton refused to discuss the
matter. Earlier this month, all Labour members and officials were
ordered not to speak publicly about any aspect of the selection battle.
Several senior Labour figures have been actively campaigning for Miss
Gould. As well as Miss Jowell, those who have either phoned local
members or visited them include Tony Blair's former spin doctor Alastair
Campbell, former MP Stephen Twigg - who has been seen canvassing with
Miss Gould - and former Labour general secretary Baroness McDonagh.
A senior Labour source said: 'The message that's been put out is that
Georgia Gould is an influential person with influential friends and,
because of that, she can deliver.'
Miss Gould, who graduated from St Catherine's College, Oxford, less than
a year ago, is from one of Britain's most powerful political families.
Her father, Philip, was a spin doctor for ex-Labour leader Neil Kinnock
in the Eighties and later one of Mr Blair's key advisers in Downing
Street. Her mother, Gail Rebuck, the chairman and chief executive of
publishing group Random House, is also a prominent figure in Labour
circles and reputedly secured Alastair Campbell a £1million deal for his
memoirs.
At Oxford Miss Gould was chairman of the Oxford University Labour Club
(OULC). One of her best friends was Nicky Blair, younger son of Mr
Blair.
During her stewardship, in 2007, she lured a string of high-profile
Blairite MPs to Oxford to speak at meetings, including David Miliband,
Alan Milburn and Charles Clarke. Attracting speakers of such influence
was unusual even by the relatively high standards of the OULC.
She also asked Alastair Campbell, a close friend of Lord Gould, to
address the club's John Smith Memorial Dinner in 2007. One Oxford
contemporary has claimed Miss Gould referred to him as 'Uncle Ally'.
In a bid to boost her chances of selection, it is understood that Miss
Gould has enlisted the freelance help of members of staff who work for
communications and strategy group BBM Consultants, of which Baroness
McDonagh is a former director.
Shadow Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson said: 'If there is any
suggestion that Tessa Jowell is using London 2012 for Labour Party
political purposes this clearly breaks a series of very firm cross-party
undertakings that have been in place since 2005.'
The London Games have been described by the Olympics Delivery Authority
as the 'biggest regeneration project in Europe'.
But according to experts, the economic and structural benefits are most
likely to be felt in those boroughs adjoining the Olympic Park in the
Lower Lea Valley in East London.
For other London boroughs, including Erith and Thamesmead, the economic
benefits are entirely dependent on what the London Mayor is able to
inject into grass-roots sport.
Miss Gould confirmed last night that she had sent the email the day
after the meeting at which Tessa Jowell spoke. She added: 'I've been
advised not to talk to the Press so I can't comment. Clearly these
allegations are nonsense but I can't get into a discussion. I'm really
sorry.'
A spokesman for Miss Jowell and the Labour Party dismissed any
allegations of wrongdoing.
Http://www.dailymai
bribe-email-
Posts
