Tory Letwin chases thieves

Shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin gave chase in his dressing gown after two men robbed him at his south London home.

He managed to recover his stolen wallet, but the thieves made off with items of his wife's jewellery, his Filofax and mobile phone.

Mr Letwin, 45, said today: "Thankfully, I was not hurt, but it has made me even more determined to find ways of tackling crime which blights the lives of so many people each day."

However, Scotland Yard said the incident, which occurred at 5.15am yesterday, is not being investigated because Mr Letwin "made no allegation of a crime", even though police officers were called to the scene.

The drama began when two men approached a taxi waiting outside Mr Letwin's Kennington flat to take him on a business trip to Amsterdam. The two men, one black and one white, asked for a lift to nearby Clapham Common.

The driver pointed out Mr Letwin's flat and told the men they would have to ask him if they could share the car.

However, the MP for West Dorset refused to take the men, saying it would make him late for his flight. He then allowed one of the men to use his lavatory. While the second man kept him talking at the door, the other raced through his house and ran out with Mr Letwin's wallet. Both men then escaped along the street. Mr Letwin gave chase, recovering the wallet, but later discovered that the men had also stolen items of jewellery and other belongings. He reported the theft to the police before catching his flight.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Police were called at 5.48am to reports of a theft at an address in Kennington.

"The property removed from the premises was immediately returned to the owner and the call to police was cancelled."

The high-ranking Tory MP is no stranger to controversy. He got himself into trouble during the last general election after overestimating a budget forecast that promised to slash public spending by £20 billion.

He also declared in November that the Conservative Party was unelectable in its current state. In an interview with the New Statesman, he said: "What people want to know about an Opposition is this, 'Are these people in whom you would safely put your trust to let them run the country?' "

He added that the party was: "Nowhere near, nowhere near. We have a huge hill to climb. It is very large."

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