Sabotage drove me out, says Filkin

12 April 2012

Elizabeth Filkin, the Commons standards watchdog, today accused MPs of starting a whispering campaign against her, just two weeks after she started in the post.

The row over the work of Mrs Filkin - who investigated scandals surrounding Peter Mandelson, Geoffrey Robinson and Keith Vaz - became more heated today, when she spoke publicly for the first time about the way she had been sabotaged by MPs and ministers. It came after Mrs Filkin stated she would not be reapplying for the post she has held since 1999.

She claimed that the campaign against her, including hostile briefings to journalists, had started after a fortnight into her job, before she launched her first investigation into former Northern Ireland minister Peter Mandelson, and then gradually became more hostile.

Ms Filkin denied allegations that she had been over-zealous in her pursuit of errant MPs, telling the Today programme: "Over-zealous has the sense attached to it that one is pursuing things which one need not pursue to get to the truth. I don't think I ever done that. I have been, I'm afraid, much too busy and much too under-staffed."

Saying that she had tried to be "properly rigorous" in her investigation, she added: "I think that's the only way you can be fair. Indeed, I believe it's the only way I could do my duty to the House of Commons and the public at large. A quick decision, that wasn't based on detailed appraisal of the facts, would not be fair."

An all-party motion has been put down by MPs who want her to stay on in the job as Parliamentary Standards Commissioner. In October, she was told that, unlike her predecessor Sir Gordon Downey, she would not be granted an automatic second three-year term when her first expires in February, but would have to reapply for the job.

Her position now raises questions over the way in which MPs should be scrutinised. But a vociferous group of MPs has always been against her, arguing that she often blackened the names of MPs who were investigated for small, technical problems rather than for the more important breaches of standards.

In a devastating letter to the Speaker of the House, Michael Martin, she wrote: "The degree of pressure-applied has been quite remarkable-This has been applied directly by MPs, some holding high office. MPs have been unwilling to provide simple information or have otherwise obstructed this inquiry."

Tory MP Peter Bottomley, who accused Tony Blair of backing moves to sideline her, writes today in the Standard: "The public and Parliament should object strongly to this shabby treatment. The reasons for insulting and discouraging this competent, independent and fair investigator may include mistakes, misunderstanding and plain malice, not by her but by senior MPs."

He also accuses New Labour of being involved in the campaign against her. "It was when Peter Mandelson's housing and borrowing arrangements were investigated, when John Prescott's request to his union landlord for permission to let another part of the family use their flat, and when senior Scottish Labour MPs failed to cooperate fully and quickly that thewhispering started."

He and Labour backbencher David Winnick yesterday tabled a parliamentary motion calling for Mrs Filkin's reappointment.