Attorney General halts BBC probe

BBC
Mar. 02, 2007

The Attorney General has obtained an injunction against the BBC to stop it broadcasting an item about the cash for honours investigation.

The injunction was obtained on Friday night at a hearing which lasted around two hours at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

Lord Goldsmith's office said he had acted "completely independently of government" on the matter.

The BBC said its reporting of the story is a matter of public interest.

A statement issued on behalf of the attorney general and the Metropolitan Police said: "The application for an injunction was made by the attorney general this afternoon at the specific request of and in co-operation with the police because of their concerns that the disclosure of certain information at this stage would impede their inquiries.

"The attorney general acted in this respect completely independently of government, and in his independent public interest capacity."

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell told BBC Two's Newsnight that "the attorney general acts in the public interest, and in particular, he's got an interest to ensure that no possible prosecution is prejudiced or that no possible defence to a prosecution is prejudiced".

He added: "I think what one might be able to infer from the fact that he felt it necessary to seek this injunction is that he at least contemplates the possibility that a prosecution of some kind will follow."