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ToryDiary: George Osborne reads riot act to EU finance ministers as sense of crisis grips €urozone

Lord Ashcroft on Comment: Why the disclosures of how Gordon Brown was targeted have saddened but not surprised me

Lord Ashcroft: Why the disclosures of how Gordon Brown was targeted have saddened but not surprised me

By Lord Ashcroft, KCMG.

Two stories relating to Gordon Brown have been high on the news agenda over the past 24 hours: one relates to allegations that the medical records of his sick son had been illegally obtained, the other that details of his private financial affairs were “blagged”.

I am neither a political ally of the former Labour Prime Minister nor a personal friend but I feel sympathy towards him that he should be targeted in this way. I also feel revulsion that any journalist and private investigator should have allegedly teamed up to target the medical records of a young, seriously ill boy.

However, neither of these latest claims against two News International papers –The Sun and The Sunday Times – has surprised me because, for more than a decade, I have been aware of both the practice of “blagging” – impersonating an individual in order to obtain confidential information about him or her – and the vulnerability of medical records.

Unlike others who have jumped on the bandwagon to express their outrage at this month’s “hacking” and “blagging” revelations, I detailed my concerns fully and publicly six years ago.

Let me turn first to the subject of medical records (and I should point out that in the case of young Fraser Brown, The Sun insists that it discovered he was suffering from cystic fibrosis through entirely legitimate journalistic means).

In my book Dirty Politics, Dirty Times, first published in 2005 and which dealt with my dispute with The Times, I wrote: “The Times is certainly not the only newspaper that routinely uses private detectives to obtain illegal information. The man in the street would be appalled if he knew how often it goes on and how easy it is to obtain information on an individual, famous or unknown.”

Furthermore, I highlighted the fact that an individual’s medical records were anything but confidential against the tactics of private investigators. In my book, I wrote: “I am told that £200 is about the going rate to obtain someone’s confidential medical records”.

Having now learnt of the tactics that were used to try to obtain details of Mr Brown’s financial affairs, I can say that I was targeted in a near-identical way. Last Friday, I used my blog to highlight how a team from The Times, including Tom Baldwin, now Ed Miliband’s Director of Communications, targeted me back in 1999.

I detailed how Gavin Singfield, a private investigator, was tasked by Mr Baldwin and his former colleagues with accessing information from a bank account held at the Drummonds branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland in Charing Cross Road, London. The bank account from which The Times journalists sought information belonged to the Conservative Party, and the paper’s interest was confined to payments – perfectly legal ones – which I had made to that account.

However, this was not the only occasion that private investigators linked to News International papers had targeted me.

Many years ago, I discovered that a private detective had successfully – and again illegally – obtained details of my private tax affairs from the Inland Revenue (now HMRC). These were details that eventually found their way into the pages ofThe Sunday Times.

I decided to carry out my own investigation – involving a vast amount of time, money and effort – into those who had been targeting me.

Eventually, the Inland Revenue assisted me by carrying out internal inquiries and it discovered that one of its tax offices had received a phone call (it later emerged there were several phone calls) from someone purporting to be me. The caller was able to quote my unique taxpayer reference number and he also had accurate details of a small tax repayment I had received.

In March 2002, Sir Nick Montagu, then the chairman of the Inland Revenue, wrote personally to me saying: “It is now clear that the caller was masquerading as you, and I am extremely sorry that we failed to spot as bogus someone who was able to give a reference number which matched your name and who displayed some familiarity with your tax affairs.”

Following my public allegations last Friday against Mr Baldwin and his former colleagues from The Times, I was amused to see how Mr Miliband appears to have become Mr Baldwin’s spokesman when Mr Miliband had, of course, hired Mr Baldwin to be his spokesman. It is a curious role reversal and one wonders how long it can continue?

Mr Baldwin denied to his new boss that he had commissioned a private investigator to target me. But he has not denied that The Times commissioned Mr Singfield. Nor has he denied that he worked with the private investigator. Nor that he was responsible for handling the unlawfully acquired material. And that is because he cannot do so; too many people know the truth.

Mr Baldwin has used weasel words to try to keep his current job. He has not, however – either now or in the past – sued me for highlighting details of his various illegal activities. Why has he not moved to protect his “reputation” if my series of allegations are so wide of the mark?

Given the events of the past few days, I am now hopeful that the Metropolitan Police, having admitted at the weekend that its probe into hacking allegations was inadequate, will now carry out a new inquiry into the activities of the “blaggers” who targeted me, Mr Brown and others.

For the moment, I am not publishing documents in my possession – obtained perfectly legitimately, by the way - because I do not wish to jeopardise what I now hope will be a renewed attempt by the police to bring Mr Baldwin in front of a criminal court.

July 13, 2011 at 07:56 | Permalink

Ruth Porter on ThinkTankCentral: Sharper Axes, Lower Taxes – The British people agree

Parliament:

• Martin Callanan MEP's EU Diary: The 'Euro at all costs' mentality in Brussels has run its course
• Lord Colwyn increasingly seen as more dynamic choice for new Lord Speaker

Local Government:

• Pickles attacks Barnet Council
• Councils should not run any schools

WATCH: David Cameron on visit to address the Welsh Assembly: "I am determined that devolution will work, and work well for Wales"

Today's newslinks

Party leaders unite against Rupert Murdoch

"All three main political parties will today unite against the man they have spent decades wooing in an unprecedented attack on Rupert Murdoch and his business empire. The party leaders will order their MPs to vote for a motion calling for Mr Murdoch to abandon his takeover bid for BSkyB in the wake of the hacking scandal. The show of unity came after a dramatic intervention by David Cameron. He made the decision after realising he could lose the vote in the House of Commons in the face of opposition from Labour and the Liberal Democrats. The mood in Downing Street was said to be "grim" y esterday." - The Independent

• "David Cameron will announce on Wednesday that a judge will oversee a full-blown inquiry into the background to phone hacking and a panel that will examine media regulation, as Downing Street scrambles to regain the initiative after a series of decisive interventions by Ed Miliband." - The Guardian
• "Rupert Murdoch, his son James, and News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks have agreed to appear before MPs next week to answer questions about the phone hacking scandal" - Daily Mirror
• The Sun denies Gordon Brown's hacking claims, and says the Brown family gave them permission to run the story about his son - The Sun
• The scandal backlash reaches America: "A powerful Senate committee chairman has said that phone hacking raises "serious questions" about whether Rupert Murdoch's News Corp "has broken United States law"" - Daily Telegraph
• "David Cameron had little choice but to back Labour's BSkyB motion" - Julian Glover, in the Guardian
• "It’s the readers wot won it, not the press" - Daniel Finkelstein, in the Times (£)

> On yesterday's ToryDiary: Under pressure from Labour, Cameron disowns Rupert Murdoch

> From yesterday: WATCH: Cameron says his "heart goes out" to Gordon and Sarah Brown over new allegations against News International

Away from the News International scandal, part one: UK public debt soars to record £2 trillion

"The total amount that taxpayers will have to pay to fund public-sector pensions in the future has risen to more than £1 trillion, the Government will announce today. The Treasury is to release figures showing that public-sector pension liabilities have increased by 30 per cent in just two years to £1.1trn. It means that total public debt is now nearly £2trn." - The Independent

"The REAL cost of Britain's debt mountain: £78,000 for every family... thanks to Labour" - Daily Mail

Away from the News International scandal, part two: Osborne urges Eurozone "action" and warns Britain is not immune - as Italian debt crisis mounts

"Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne called on European finance chiefs to come up with concrete plans to solve the crisis in the euro area, saying the U.K. and world economies aren’t immune to recent market turmoil. Osborne broke his silence on the crisis engulfing Greece and other euro countries in a statement released last night by the Treasury in which he demanded “detail” on plans to end the problems. He met European Union counterparts in Brussels earlier yesterday." - Bloomberg

"The FTSE 100 has racked up a 100 point-plus loss today as fears about Italy's debt mountain sparked heavy selling across financial markets." - Daily Mail

"France is also being affected by the market volatility as the premium it pays for debt over Germany hit a new euro-era high on Tuesday. French 10-year yields were 0.7 percentage points higher than equivalent German ones. And Irish debt was downgraded to junk by Moody’s, which lowered its rating on the embattled country one notch to Ba1, saying it was likely to need a second bail-out." - The FT (£)

• "The endgame for Europe is approaching — and much faster than anyone expected. With this week’s sudden outbreak of panic in the Italian bond market, which had previously seemed immune from the crisis, the choice between a full-scale political union and the disintegration of the euro is becoming impossible to postpone much longer. Italy, unlike Greece, Ireland or even Spain, is a huge economy. But what makes Italy’s role even more decisive is the vast size of its bond market and its national debt." - Anatole Kaletsky, in the Times (£)
• "As markets swung violently on the fear of an Italian debt crisis yesterday, Europe signed a treaty to establish a permanent €700bn (£615bn) bailout fund – but only from 2013 onwards." - City AM
• "Britain’s trade in goods deficit widened unexpectedly in May from April, as the value of imports rose more swiftly than that of exports, official data on Tuesday showed, suggesting that the road towards an export-led recovery will be a long one." - The FT (£)

> On yesterday's ToryDiary: Anti-EU feelings are surging. 66% of Tory voters ready for Britain to leave the EU. Only 16% want to stay

> On yesterday's Parliament: Douglas Carswell MP accuses Treasury of failure to negotiate better IMF deal for UK taxpayers

David Cameron accused of "extraordinary" slur on GPs

"The Prime Minister alleged that family doctors go on late-night home visits to “people with money” whom they know socially, while ignoring poor residents under their care. ... His comments have now come under fierce attack from medics who say they have no basis in reality.They risk triggering a new breakdown in relations between the Government and the medical profession, following bitter arguments over NHS reforms that were only resolved by a series of policy about-turns." - Daily Telegraph

• David Cameron speaks of need for Wales to end high unemployment and dependency, to give it "a future as glorious as its past" - Number 10

New Government plans will see immigrants have to wait five years to receive benefits

"The plan to extend the length of time immigrants must be in the country before allowing access to full benefits forms part of a series of measures to overhaul family visas. It is the latest part of the Government’s reform of immigration, which has already led to curbs on student visas and a cap on the number of skilled immigrants.." - The Times (£)

• "Britain could be forced to pay out millions of pounds a year in pensions to foreigners who have never worked here thanks to the EU, it emerged yesterday." - Daily Express
• "More immigrants settle permanently in Britain than any other country in Europe, a study revealed yesterday. The latest figures showed that 397,900 foreigners decided to live here in 2009 – second in the world only to the U.S. The figure marked a rise of 14 per cent from the previous year. It was the largest increase in the developed world, at a time when most countries saw dramatic falls in the number of permanent settlers." - Daily Mail

Bombardier unions to meet Philip Hammond

"Unions representing workers at the UK's last train builder are set to have a meeting with ministers to urge a crucial contract be reconsidered. Derby-based Bombardier has said it will shed 1,400 staff after missing out on the £1.4bn Thameslink contract. Unite and the RMT have said they will underline to Transport Secretary Philip Hammond the impact on the area and the wider UK manufacturing industry. The government has already said it is legally bound to uphold the decision." - BBC

> David Green on Comment yesterday: Cameron needs to emulate Thatcher and fight for British business "in the teeth of international competition"

US firm could summon Liam Fox to give evidence in blackmail case

"The "unprecedented" legal action could make Fox the first serving British cabinet minister to give evidence in a serious legal case in America. The Guardian understands that American conglomerate 3M is considering serving Fox with a subpoena. It will demand that he give evidence over a claim that he was aware of a threat to interfere with the award of a knighthood to 3M's British-born chief executive, George Buckley." - The Guardian

Government announces another u-turn, this time on phasing out the use of cheques

"Worried members of the public sent more than one thousand letters and emails to MPs after it was announced that the 350-year-old payment system was to be phased out by late 2018. ... Mark Hoban MP, financial secretary to the Treasury, wrote that the decision had caused much alarm across the country, particularly among the elderly or housebound people, schools, clubs and charities, rural communities, and small businesses." - The FT (£)

Families face £1,000 bill for Chris Huhne's new green plans

"Families face punishing increases in energy bills of up to £1,000 a year to fund a switch to green energy and build new nuclear power stations. Energy Secretary Chris Huhne yesterday outlined a new regime that will encourage firms to build thousands of wind turbines, tidal power stations and nuclear plants. The scheme is part of a government plan to shift away from fossil fuels, particularly coal, and so dramatically cut carbon emissions to meet UK and EU targets." - Daily Mail

> From yesterday WATCH: Chris Huhne explains UK's need for £100 billion of energy investment

And finally... the Guardian says "Ed Miliband is experiencing his West Wing moment"

"Miliband is doing well this week because he is following in the footsteps of Bartlet and is being true to himself. His attacks on News International ring true because he has never made much of an effort suck up to the Murdoch empire." - The Guardian

Highlights from yesterday

ToryDiary: Under pressure from Labour, Cameron disowns Rupert Murdoch

Parliament: Tory MP attacks "sneaky" whips for changing time of IMF bailout vote

ToryDiary: Anti-EU feelings are surging. 66% of Tory voters ready for Britain to leave the EU. Only 16% want to stay.

WATCH:

• Chris Huhne explains UK's need for £100 billion of energy investment
• Gordon Brown calls for investigation into News International's links with "criminal underworld"
• Charles Kennedy says he still hopes Britain will join the €uro
• Cameron says his "heart goes out" to Gordon and Sarah Brown over new allegations against News International

David Green on Comment: Cameron needs to emulate Thatcher and fight for British business "in the teeth of international competition"

Local government:

• Livingstone's hypocrisy over Murdoch

Livingstone's hypocrisy over Murdoch

Kudos to the Coffee House blog at The Spectator for nailing Ken Livingstone's hypocrisy over News International. Livingstone has been denouncing Boris Johnson’s "dire judgement" and said that Boris "had at least two meals with Rebekah Brooks, one dinner and one lunch with James Murdoch, and one dinner with Rupert Murdoch."

But Coffee House add:

According to his published diaries, Ken Livingstone had lunch with James Murdoch and others on 10th October 2006, two months after Glenn Mulcaire and Clive Goodman had been arrested. The lunch engagement was so official and proper that it merited a mention in the Mayor’s report of 2006. Livingstone also dined frequently with Stefano Hatfield (who edited the Murdoch evening freesheet, The London Paper, at time) during the last mayoral election campaign.

Livingstone is also a regular attendee at Rupert Murdoch’s summer parties, where he rubs shoulders with Matthew Freud, a Murdoch by marriage. Livingstone’s relationship with Freud has been scrutinised

in the past. When Mayor, Livingstone paid Freud £350,000 for publicrelations work to encourage investment in London; this was in addition to the Mayor’s 70-person PR team. Johnson cancelled Freud’s contract on assuming office.

• Glyn Gaskarth asks What are Libraries for?