Finally – Brown says sorry for smeargate

GORDON Brown has finally apologised over the smearing e-mails of his former special adviser Damian McBride.

The Prime Minister said sorry during his visit to Glasgow and accepted "full responsibility" for the affair which has dominated the headlines for nearly a week.

However, the sincerity of the apology was questioned by one of the intended victims of the rumour campaign proposed by Mr McBride, who quit his special adviser's post on Saturday.

Nadine Dorries, the Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire, accused Mr Brown of timing the apology to deflect attention from another controversy – the Damian Green row.

Ms Dorries said: "I think the reason he did it was that he knew he would be asked about this by reporters. I am pleased he said sorry but why didn't he say it to me first? There still needs to be a full inquiry into who knew what and if there were any other e-mails sent."

She said Mr Brown was presiding over a "cesspit" at Number 10 while Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrats' home affairs spokesman, invoked similar imagery to say it was the "most constipated apology in history".

After days of pressure from Conservatives, Mr Brown said yesterday: "I am sorry about what happened. I take full responsibility for what happened. That's why the person who was responsible went immediately."

He went on: "I have said all along that, when I saw this first, I was horrified. I was shocked and I was very angry indeed.

"I think the most important thing we do is reassure people everything is being done to clean up politics in our country. I wrote to the people who were affected by it and expressed very deep regret for what happened.

"The person who was responsible went immediately and lost his job and I have ensured that there are new rules so this can't happen again.

"We have done everything in our power to deal with this."

Shadow chancellor George Osborne also dismissed the apology as a "little late" and said it had distracted him from his family's Easter break.

"It has come a little late, this apology, and it is a shame we had to ask for it," he said.

"Of course, there is rough and tumble in politics and you get very used to it if you are in the front line. But this went way beyond that and was pretty personal."

He went on: "I wish this whole thing had never happened. But it did and the Prime Minister has at last, many days later, admitted full responsibility for it.

"That is fine – people will draw their own conclusions about the kind of government he runs. We need to move on, and we need to move on to the real issue, which is – how are we going to clean up the centre of our government, how are we going to make 10 Downing Street a building that we can be proud of in the future and how are we going to get government, instead of focused on how to smear its opponents, focused on how to deal with the big issues the country faces?"

Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward later defended Mr Brown as an "honourable man".

"I'm extremely sorry this happened because I think we're all degraded by it and I think the Prime Minister today hopefully has made it absolutely clear that he is extremely sorry," he said.

"It is now time, I hope, to move on. He accepts responsibility for people who work in Downing Street."

And he added: "Yes, Damian McBride worked alongside Gordon Brown in the past, but that doesn't mean that the Prime Minister sat next to him reading every stupid e-mail that the man wrote.

"The man has left his job and Gordon has not only expressed regret, he has said he is very sorry."

SNP Scotland spokesman Angus MacNeil questioned whether other Cabinet members knew of the e-mails.

Pointing to reports in the magazine PR Week, Mr MacNeil said it showed Douglas Alexander had been an integral part of the internet campaign team.

"For someone who is apparently a key player on Labour's blog council, Douglas Alexander has been remarkably quiet over the last week, and he must his explain his role in this scandal.

"The internet represents a massive opportunity for furthering political debate. Gordon Brown must act immediately to stop it being turned into a tool for Labour spin, smears and sleaze."

For the Liberal Democrats, Mr Huhne said: "This is the most constipated apology in British political history, but it is better late than never.

"The Prime Minister doesn't get that British politics needs more than tinkering, it needs to be fundamentally fixed."

The scandal has overshadowed the government's preparations for next week's Budget and insiders are furious that Mr Brown's inner circle has allowed it to drag on for so long.

Former Blairite ministers have criticised the government's handling of the scandal. Frank Field, the former social security minister, warned that MPs were "staring into the abyss" as there was no legislation to debate.

Leaked information touched on 'matters of public interest'

HOME Secretary Jacqui Smith suffered a fresh blow to her authority yesterday after prosecutors decided a senior Conservative will not face criminal charges for leaking government information.

The Crown Prosecution Service threw out the possibility of a court case against shadow immigration minister Damian Green for leaks from the Home Office about immigration policy.

Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, ruled that the leaks were in the public interest and posed no risk to national security.

The dismissal of a need for a court case by the Crown Prosecution Service will cast fresh doubts on the future Cabinet career of Ms Smith, who has already faced criticism for her expense claims.

Mr Green yesterday stopped short of calling for her to resign, but made clear that he believed the police investigation had been sparked as retribution for the "embarrassment" he had caused officials and ministers by exposing flaws in immigration policy.

He was arrested in November by counter-terrorism police after his homes and offices, including his parliamentary desk, were searched.

Last night he said he was told by police he could face life imprisonment.

The justification for the investigation, which cost taxpayers up to £5 million, was blown apart yesterday after it was announced that neither Mr Green nor Christopher Galley, the Home Office official who leaked the information to Mr Green, would face charges.

Mr Starmer said the leaked information touched on "matters of legitimate public interest" and was not particularly secret.

In a direct contradiction of official claims, Mr Starmer also slapped down the idea that a criminal inquiry was needed as the information posed a threat to national security.

"It did not relate to military, policing or intelligence matters. It did not expose anyone to a risk of injury or death. Nor, in many respects, was it highly confidential," he said.

"Much of it was known to others outside the civil service, for example, in the security industry or the Labour Party or parliament. Moreover, some of the information leaked undoubtedly touched on matters of legitimate public interest, which were reported in the press.

"I have therefore decided there is insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction against Mr Galley or Mr Green."

However, Mr Starmer also said there was "evidence upon which a jury might find that there was damage to the proper functioning of the Home Office" which "should not be underestimated".

Mr Green said the affair symbolised a government that had been in power too long.

He also demanded that police give back his DNA sample and documents that police still had after the search of his office and homes.

The Cabinet Office called in Scotland Yard by writing a letter claiming there had been "considerable damage to national security".

Ms Smith yesterday announced that the police inspectorate would conduct a review of the investigation, which had been carried out under former Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Bob Quick.

A spokesman for Ms Smith said Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary would examine the "operational aspects" of the inquiry.

Ms Smith defended the role of the authorities, saying that it would have been "irresponsible" not to have taken action.