Goldsmith Should Stand Aside from Cash for Honours Decision

Very few political journalists write blogs worth reading. Ben Brogan, political editor of the Daily Mail, is an exception. In his blog today he reports that the CPS have received a recommendation from the Met to charge three people in relation to the Cash for Honours Inquiry. Well, he's nailed his colours well and truly to the mast. There's not a lot one can add to this apart from to express the hope that the CPS do their work quickly. I see no reason why it need take them very long to assess what the Met have given them. Blair will hope that it drags out until he has left office, but I can't see why it should take longer than a few weeks for a decision to be made.

It is appalling that the final decision may be taken by the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith. Not many people know that Goldsmith was a donor to New Labour before he was granted his peerage by.... you guessed it, Tony Blair, the man on whom he will now sit in judgement. He should stand aside and allow the decision to be made by the CPS without any reference to him at all. If he makes a decision that pursuing this case is not conducive to the public interest I very much hope that the Great British Public won't stand for it.

The Attorney General: Who Knew What and When?

Dominic Grieve, the Shadow Attorney General said of the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith a few months ago: "I regard the Attorney General as a person of impecable integrity." He repeated this when I interviewed him on 18 Doughty Street a couple of weeks ago. Just because he has had an extra marital affair does not make him a bad man, or a man unfit to hold his office. However, when the affair was with a high flying barrister whose career he was in a position to help, it is legitimate to ask questions. Furthermore, the affair was going on while he was giving advice on the legality of the Iraq war. Inexplicably, he changed his mind on the legality of the war overnight. He had told the PM it could be illegal, and yet 48 hours later told the Cabinet the reverse. At he time it was thought that Lord Falconer, the then Lord Chancellor, had persuaded him of the error of his ways. I understand that Goldsmith's affair with Kim Hollis was common knowledge in the upper echelons of the legal profession and would probably therefore have been known by Falconer. Is it beyond the realms of possibility for Falconer to have hinted at his knowledge at the time to Goldsmith?

And are we really to believe that the Prime Minister knew nothing about the affair, as he told Andrew Marr this morning? I find it highly unlikely. With his wife's contacts I find it incredible. And if the security services didn't know about it and hadn't passed it on, it begs the question as to what they were doing.

There is a legitimate public interest justification for further inquiries here.

Attorney General Admits Affair With Barrister

Breaking news from tomorrow's Mail on Sunday is that the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith has admitted having an affair with a 49 year old barrister, Kim Hollis, only a matter of days after the Director of Public Prosecutions Ken MacDonald admitted the same thing. Anyone would think we were watching a replay of the 1990s at the moment - in spades. No doubt they were wearing a Chelsea shirt...

UPDATE: 18.57 This story is a Mail on Sunday exclusive, although the News of the World seem to be erroneously claiming it too. More in a moment

UPDATE: 18.59 The married father-of-four, a close ally of Prime Minister Tony Blair, said the matter was now "all in the past". Kim Hollis, 49, the first Asian female lawyer to become a QC, was identified by the News of the World as the woman involved. In a statement, 57-year-old Lord Goldsmith said: "My wife knows all about this and has done for some time. "It is all in the past and we are both very happy. "This is a private matter and my wife and I have no further comment to make."

UPDATE 19.01 Lord Goldsmith is in California at the moment and only learnt of the breaking story when the Mail on Sunday's Simon Walters contacted his office at 10am this morning. The News of the World got wind of a story and phoned the Attorney General's office, who confirmed what the Mail on Sunday were about to print. So the News of the World put it out to the Press Association as their Exclusive. Hilarious.

UPDATE 19.05 Read the full story on the Mail on Sunday website HERE. Read a profile and interview with Kim Hollis HERE.