Detective questioned over honours obstruction

By Patrick Hennessy and Andrew Alderson

The detective who led the failed cash-for-honours investigation is to be challenged by MPs over allegations that his inquiry was “obstructed” by Downing Street in an attempt to protect Tony Blair.

	John Yates will face questions from MPs on Tuesday

Assistant Commissioner John Yates will be put on the spot when he appears before the all-party public administration select committee in the Commons on Tuesday.

MPs will press him on claims, first revealed in The Sunday Telegraph, that Scotland Yard was informed by sources close to Downing Street that Mr Blair would resign as prime minister if he was questioned as a suspect rather than as a witness. In the end, Mr Blair was not spoken to under caution and his status remained that of a witness during the 16-month, £1 million investigation, at the end of which no criminal charges were brought.

Downing Street initially denied the story, although it was subsequently confirmed by other sources close to Mr Blair. The police have never commented on it – and MPs will use the Commons hearing to demand answers from Mr Yates.

Paul Rowen, a Liberal Democrat member of the committee, said last night: “I want to know whether Assistant Commissioner Yates and his team got all the co-operation they were entitled to during their investigation.

“Was there obstruction from Downing Street or Mr Blair and why at the end of the day, when it was clear that Mr Blair had driven a coach and horses through the honours regulations, were they not able to do anything about it? The public has a right to know.

“Tony Blair has made a mockery of public life. We have heard allegations that he even threatened to resign if he had been forced to answer questions under caution.

“These are the things we need to ask and we are going to be asking: what pressures were put on, how co-operative was Downing Street and why did it take so long for them to get nowhere?”

Mr Yates is refusing to comment this weekend. However, his colleagues at Scotland Yard are eager to see how much he reveals about the evidence that was thrown up and, more intriguingly, about the lack of co-operation from Downing Street.

“John is keeping his own counsel but, this week’s meeting promises to be very interesting,” said one senior colleague.

“John is a guy of real integrity and he may now feel he can be open and straightforward about some of the things that he and his team found out. I don’t think he will throw accusations about loosely, but he might point out that there were unnecessary delays in obtaining some evidence.”

Those at the centre of the investigation – Lord Levy, the party’s chief fund-raiser, Ruth Turner, Tony Blair’s “gatekeeper”, and Sir Christopher Evans, the multi-millionaire Labour donor – are said to be concerned that Mr Yates’s comments to MPs might prove controversial. All three were arrested but were never charged.

During the hearing Mr Yates is expected to assert that Sir Christopher’s diaries contained evidence seen as vitally important to his investigation. They are thought to refer to alleged conversations between the biotechnology tycoon, who loaned Labour £1 million, and Lord Levy, about the possibility of an honour.

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