Pressure on Northern Secretary Peter Hain is growing at Westminster as the British attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, considers the terms of his inquiry into whether Mr Hain or his officials misled the High Court in Belfast. The Conservatives stopped-short of calling for Mr Hain's resignation, while describing Mr Justice Girvan's judgment yesterday as "a devastating indictment" of Mr Hain and his advisers.
Senior Tory sources said privately that Mr Hain's situation "could not be more difficult for a minister of the crown", suggesting that any other minister in charge of a "mainland" department would already "find his head on the block". However, the party's Northern Ireland spokesman David Lidington confined himself to demanding "a detailed explanation" from Mr Hain, who is a candidate for Labour's deputy leadership.
Mr Lidington said: "The criticisms contained in Mr Justice Girvan's judgment today are a devastating indictment of the secretary of state and his advisers. It really is quite extraordinary for the judge to submit 67 questions for the attorney general to investigate in respect of this matter. The issues he raises, relating to possible attempts to pervert or obstruct the course of justice, are of the most serious nature."
Mr Lidington continued: "The issue here is not about the suitability of the interim victims' commissioner, but of the conduct of the government in her appointment. It is now essential that Peter Hain comes forward with a detailed explanation of his actions in response to Mr Justice Girvan's criticisms."
DUP Assembly Member Ian Paisley jnr suggested that Mr Hain should be "indicted" if found guilty of any wrongdoing. "If the attorney general found there was any attempt by the secretary of state to misdirect the court, or to get his officials to do so, in any other country he would be indicted and I do not see why a different standard ought to apply to him," said Mr Paisley.
A spokeswoman for the attorney general said Lord Goldsmith had received a memo from Mr Justice Girvan yesterday morning, and that he would "now take steps to inquire into the issues the judge has raised and will announce the terms of the inquiry and who will conduct it as soon as possible."
Lord Goldsmith could have an opportunity to comment on the case on Thursday, when he is due to answer a question concerning judicial reviews in Northern Ireland tabled by Lord David Trimble.