MPs join Eye battle

The storm over the London Eye reached new intensity today.

A group of MPs launched a furious campaign in the Commons and called on Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell to reprieve the giant wheel.

At the same time, there were allegations of lies and "shady dealing" over a threat to evict the Eye from its site by the Thames.

A leaked letter, obtained by the Standard, confirms there are fewer than six weeks left to save the popular attraction from being torn down.

Six MPs, including two former Labour ministers from Ms Jowell's department, a Conservative former Cabinet minister and two Liberal Democrats, put down a motion in the Commons demanding the Eye be saved. Led by Vauxhall MP and former sports minister Kate Hoey, they described the demand by landlords the South Bank Centre (SBC) for a massive rent rise as "an outrage".

The SBC is funded by the Arts Council and its chairman is Labour peer Lord Hollick who was appointed by Ms Jowell.

The MPs went on: "The eviction notice served on the London Eye is against the public interest and should be withdrawn immediately." Their motion called upon Ms Jowell, who is known to support the Eye privately, "to use her influence to persuade SBC to withdraw its threat of eviction and accept an appropriate level of rent".

The other MPs include former arts minister Mark Fisher, ex-agriculture minister John Gummer and former London mayoral candidates Simon Hughes and Susan Kramer.

The battle heated up as the SBC was accused of "deception" in its handling of the crisis. The SBC claimed it neither demanded an annual rent increase to £2.5 million nor issued legal proceedings to evict the Eye.

The SBC also claimed there was "no likelihood" of the 450ft wheel facing eviction.

But the leaked letter obtained by the Standard reveals a different state of affairs.

The letter sent to the London Eye Company by solicitors acting for the SBC shows SBC was determined to receive much more than the £210,000 rent it had been due under an existing deal.

It also shows that the SBC also demanded the Eye be torn down by 1 July and threatened to apply for a court possession order. The letter also promises to claim "double the open market yearly value of the premises" until the stand-off over the rent is resolved.

Conservative culture spokesman Theresa May said SBC were " undertaking practices which would shame a rogue landlord".

She said: "A fair negotiation is one thing, but holding a gun to the head of the Eye's owner is something completely different.

"Not only that, but it is now clear that the South Bank Centre is deliberately trying to mislead the public. It is clear that the SBC were demanding that the Eye close down before the negotiations were complete. This kind of shady tactics is not something that we should expect from a public body."

Ms Hoey, who is leading the campaign to save Britain's favourite tourist attraction, said she was " outraged" at the SBC's claims.

"I could not believe my eyes when I saw the statement," she said. "It is nothing short of an outrage - cleverly worded to deceive."

Details of the SBC's letter are likely further to ratchet up tension between the two sides just one day after Ken Livingstone accused the body of "blackmail" and demanded its board be sacked.

The SBC's latest statement may be seen by some as the first sign it is starting to crack. Claiming it "always has been a staunch supporter of the London Eye", it said "there is no likelihood of the Eye facing eviction on 1 July".

It added: "We have not issued a notice to quit and no legal proceedings have commenced. In addition, SBC has never claimed rent of £2.5 million for itself at any point in these negotiations." This is apparently contradicted by the letter sent to the London Eye Company on the SBC's behalf by solicitors Herbert Smith, which makes a formal demand for the return of land owned by the SBC on which part of the Eye lies.

It orders that the wheel is removed by 1 July "at the latest" and warns that unless the Eye's owners give up possession voluntarily "our client is entitled to apply to court for an order for possession." The London Eye Company has refused to comment on the SBC statement. But sources close to it say eviction remains a possibility. An insider said the SBC claim it never demanded £2.5 million a year was "not exactly the full story". The demand, he said, was made on behalf of both the SBC and Bromley council. "They asked for £1.25 million each, which totals £2.5 million."

A growing list of influential people have spoken out in the Eye's defence. Glenda Jackson, LBC radio presenter Nick Ferrari, Anne Widdecombe and Spectator editor Boris Johnson today added their calls for the dispute to be resolved and for the Eye to be saved.