Number 10 aide is quizzed over cash for peerages

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Under pressure: Ruth Turner

The police investigation into the cash for peerages scandal moved a step closer to Tony Blair last night after it emerged that a senior Downing Street official has been interviewed by detectives.

Reports claimed that Ruth Turner, one of the Prime Minister's political advisers, was questioned under caution last week.

She is believed to have been asked about internal correspondence discussing the possibility of nominating Labour donors for peerages.

She was interviewed as part of the Scotland Yard inquiry that has so far seen three people arrested and more than 40 interviewed about their links to the affair.

Miss Turner, Number 10' s director of government relations, was said to have been asked about emails and documents that discussed which donors should be put on a list to be submitted to the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

Last week Mr Blair's chief fundraiser Lord Levy was re-interviewed under caution by detectives, and donor Sir Christopher Evans was arrested and interviewed. Both were bailed.

The inquiry being led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner John Yates has been closing in steadily on the Prime Minister.

He is expected to be interviewed as a possible suspect next month, although sources claim the inquiry could be delayed further and may not lead to any charges.

Miss Turner, 36, took on the job two years ago and is said to be familiar with the secretive process that saw donors asked to lend money to the party to pay for Labour's election campaign last year.

She was accused of visiting then Labour chairman Iain McCartney while he was in hospital to get him to sign forms nominating donors for peerages, an allegation she denies.

The Times newspaper claimed that police questioned Miss Turner after discovering documents on computers and in files at Downing Street.

In particular they focused on emails sent from her computer at Number 10 in 2004 and 2005 which allegedly discussed which donors should be placed on a list of nominees for peerages.

Police are investigating claims that Labour traded cash for honours by rewarding wealthy donors with peerages.

The scandal caused an uproar earlier this year after it emerged that party officials had been kept in the dark about a funding scheme that involved covering up borrowing of £14million.

The party bypassed political funding rules that meant loans, unlike gifts, did not have to be declared.

The Mail disclosed last week that a High Court judge has been appointed by the Crown Prosecution Service to supervise the case and decide if Mr Blair should be interviewed.

Miss Turner is likely to be the first of several officials in Downing Street who will be questioned formally by the police.

The Times claimed that she was asked in particular about her contacts with Sir Christopher, the biochemistry entrepreneur who lent the party £1million before the last election.

b. brogan@dailymail.co.uk

 

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