Standard: No inquiry into smeargate

Sally Chatterjee

I read the same statement and it said he wasn't copied on the emails, that's not the same as not knowing about smear campaigns and falsehoods. Still, what did anyone expect but the closing of ranks and a loud "move on, there's nothing to see here"?

kinglear

" It wasn't me guv"
" That's all right then."

Thomas Cussans

No inquiry?

Ooh! Now that's a surprise!

Colin

"Whitehall experts suggested to the Evening Standard that Mr Watson's denial meant Sir Gus would reject a Conservative call for a formal investigation".

So what!

The gory details will come out one way or another. It probably won't be one of the tired old, patronage addicted lobby hacks of the Fourth Estate, who uncovers or makes public the probability that knowledge of this episode inside Number 10 and the wider PLP extends beyond McBride and Draper. More likely it'll be the nascent but burgeoning Fifth Estate that makes all the running.

Finding out who registered theredrag web site and the IP address and hence domain of the machine used to register it, is child's play.

Grunt

Isn't a cover up supposed to be worse than the original offence?

Do these people - Sir Gus, etc, not realise how foolish they appear?

JD

Oh, well that's OK then. No politician would ever tell a lie.

Andrew

Who is paying Watson's bill at Carter-Ruck please?

golfwidow

Who's McBride's/Brown's friendly contact at the Evening Standard then? Surely information like this should be coming from Gus O'Donnell himself! Or is it just more spin?

Paul Hughes

Well, the civil service is completely impartial and so we will have to respect his judgement.

oh, wait, wasn't MacBride a civil servant too?

Rhoda Klapp

Lucky Sir Gus has the interests of the nation at heart. No investigation of any criminal wrongdoing should ever take place if one of the suspects denies any knowledge, that would be crazy.

Mike, Brighton

There's a surprise! So Tom Waton denies all because he's er a minister there is no need for an inquiry.

There are many senior politicians and journalists who should hold their head in shame after this weekend. Sir Gus joins their swollen ranks

Susan Hill

Now why am I not surprised ?

Oscar

This doesn't confirm McBride has been sacked from the Civil Service. Maybe Fraser is right and he'll soon be surreptitiously reinstated. And if the opposition make a fuss they'll be told its diversionary, while the government gets on with matters of substance. This is all very insiduous.

tenpin

Disgraceful. If Brown was expressing true "regret" and if he truly didn't know about these e-mails and smears (ha!) then why not have an inquiry (even if it is just for show - a narrow remit). It would show the public that he is "serious" about cleaning up Drowning Street/politics and recapture some moral high ground (he has already mis-handled the apology). Furthermore, McBride as I understand it was in breach of the Civil Service code of conduct and he has resigned from his post but not the civil service and is still operating in some capacity for Brown (see Frank Field interview). Even the tories when they were in power resigned or went to jail when they were found out. This lot just deny responsibility or any wrong-doing and continue on the gravy train at the tax-payers expense. Bring on the election although I cannot see it being a clear result - Brown is just too desperate to cling to power - he'll probably deny knowledge of the result - maybe it is time to bring in the UN.

Paul B

The same Gus O`Donnell who writes books with Ed Balls as kindly pointed out on another thread.
We can take as read then that O`Donnell has taken the decision to note have an inquiry impartially, and in the best interests of the British and the taxpayer who pays his wages and will pay his future pension.

michael m

Surely as a Civil Servant Mr McBride would have had a job description/contract of employment/annual appraisals and reporting lines?
Can Sir Gus tell us if this was so?

Diswiss

It all stinks of corruption.

How can another white-washing be allowed? Let's hope Guido
is sitting on some proof and is just waiting for his moment.

What would happen if the whole country went on a march demanding Brown to be thrown
out of office, along with all his sycophantic, corrupt parasites?

What a delicious thought!

mac

O'Donnell's epitaph is already assured: "I served Mr Brown". Cue well-merited repugnance.

Alex

I wonder if there would have been an inquiry if it were a Tory smear against senior Labour MPs?

Verity

Why don't I care?

Glenlivet Guy

If the Prime Minister and a Minister of The Crown gives, as they have done in this case, a categorical denial that they knew about these e mails, it has to be accepted as such by the Head of The Civil Service. However, should it ever come to light subsequently that this was not the case, they are morally, politically and socially finished. Sir Gus O Donnell had no alternative but to accept the Prime Minister's word and that of Mr Watson.

logdon

It's why Filkin was hounded out. Too much impartial integrity can harm New Labour's health.

The Laughing Cavalier

Would this be the Sir Gus O'Donnell who co-wrote a book with the Mr Balls that Alice Miles tells us is being lined up to lead the rump of the Labour Party after the election?

Denis Cooper

I think the Tories have now milked this enough for their narrow party interests, and they should move on to behaving like a responsible opposition in defence of the interests of citizens and taxpayers in general.

That means calling for a police investigation, to establish whether there are sufficient grounds for criminal prosecution.

NB - I'm not suggesting that the police should arrest anybody at this point, let alone smash down their front door in a dawn raid. They seem to have forgotten that it is possible to interview suspects before deciding whether they should be arrested, and that it is also possible that if they just ring the bell then the front door may be opened.

Stronghold Barricades

Does no enquiry mean no Police?

Simon Denis

Anyone calling himself Sir "Gus" rather than Sir Augustus has got to be a creep. He has diminished himself in this demarche and should henceforth be known by the diminutive, Sir Gusset. After all, he would appear to be up Brown's bottom.

colin

Just wondering what happened to my earlier post?

Hysteria

So - after all the activity over the last weekend - is this it then?

Just business as usual? How depressing......