Minister defends spying on aides

Sep 10 2010

A Justice Minister has defended his decision to hire a firm of private detectives to carry out undercover investigations of his aides and colleagues.

Tory Jonathan Djanogly said he acted in a bid to find the source of "malicious allegations" made about him in the press but conceded he may have overreacted.

He spoke out after the Daily Telegraph obtained a copy of the report prepared for the MP for Huntingdon by Morris Chase International last year when he was shadow solicitor general.

It showed he instructed them to conduct "discreet inquiries under the pretext of writing a newspaper article" to establish the views of people including a former council leader. The firm said all the information was obtained legally and Mr Djanogly insisted he would "never have contemplated condoning anything unlawful or dishonest". Downing Street sources said however that such behaviour "cannot be condoned".

And the newspaper said one of those targeted, Tory ex-leader of Huntingdon council Derek Colley, was considering lodging a formal complaint with the Office of the Information Commissioner. The Telegraph said the MP brought in the firm amid claims - which he strongly denied - that he used more than £13,000 of taxpayer-funded expenses to pay for an au pair. It said the resulting report showed senior Tories suggested the MP was "dishonest", "lazy" and a "disaster" who should be deselected.

In a statement, Mr Djanogly said: "Following a series of malicious allegations made against me in newspapers last year, I felt I had to act to find out who was spreading these untrue stories. I instructed a firm of private investigators to try to find out the source of these stories because I was extremely upset that my private family life had been invaded. A report of their investigation was prepared and sent to me on a confidential basis and I am very disappointed to see the report released publicly without my consent.

"I would never have contemplated condoning anything unlawful or dishonest in the investigations, and the investigators have assured me that their inquiries were carried out in an entirely lawful manner. I am sorry if some people judge that I made a mistake. With hindsight I can see that I may have over-reacted, but I was being subjected to very malicious, anonymous attacks on my family. I paid for the cost of the investigation myself and did not claim it back on parliamentary expenses."

Michael Morris, a director of the firm, told The Telegraph: "All the information obtained for and reported to Mr Djanogly was developed legally. The use of pretext is legal as long as the requirements and principles of the Data Protection Act are adhered to."

The newspaper said the report cost Mr Djanogly, who is a solicitor, more than £5,000. It was reported to show that election agent Sir Peter Brown resigned "over the expenses scandal" and not, as suggested at the time, ill health. Another senior Tory is said to have told the undercover investigator: "Sir Peter was very upset and unhappy about being lied to. He knew Jonathan's cleaner was his au pair. We all knew her because she used to hand out drinks at constituency social events."

The report also contained information about an alleged "conspiracy" to undermine the MP. "There does not appear to be any current activity among the conspirators to revive the expenses allegations," it concluded. "This is because they do not have the time or resources to conduct investigations to trace the au pairs. All four sources say that you have been damaged severely politically. Brown said, 'Jonathan has lived to die another day'."