LONDON – The British Labour Party tried to draw a line under the “smeargate” affair last night, making it plain that the advice of Derek Draper – who received controversial e-mails undermining Tories – “will not be sought in the future”.
Party sources drew attention to a statement from Labour’s general secretary, Ray Collins, which said: “I want to reiterate that Derek Draper does not hold a position or role with the Labour Party and this will remain the case.”
Mr Collins said Mr Draper had “offered advice and opinion on an ad hoc basis which ended in March of this year and will not be sought in the future”.
The attempt to close down the issue comes ahead of a Cabinet meeting in Scotland today, when prime minister Gordon Brown will want to put the controversy over his former special adviser Damian McBride’s internet attempts to smear top Tories behind him.
Cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell wrote to the Conservatives yesterday saying the actions of Mr Brown’s former head of strategy and planning fell “far short” of the public’s expectations.
He warned that any repeat of the behaviour by special advisers would result in automatic dismissal.
Mr McBride, a long-standing adviser to Mr Brown, resigned at the weekend after it emerged he had written e-mails to Mr Draper suggesting a blog to undermine the opposition by making unfounded personal allegations about senior Tories.
Responding to a letter from Conservative Party chairman Francis Maude, Sir Gus wrote: “What happened constituted a clear and serious breach of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. It cannot and has not been tolerated.”
The cabinet secretary confirmed that Mr McBride had not received severance pay, adding: “As the PM has made clear, the events reported over the past weekend were not acceptable, and fell far short of the high standards the public has a right to expect.”
Sir Gus said he had written to all permanent secretaries about the update to the code of conduct.
“In particular, under this strengthened guidance, it has been made specifically clear that special advisers will automatically be dismissed if they are ever found to be preparing and disseminating inappropriate material,” he said.
Special advisers are to be required to sign an undertaking that they are aware of the new guidance.
– (PA)