Jowellgate: Italian judge will press charges over bribery allegations
MCP
By Peter Popham, Colin Brown, Matthew Beard and Jonathan Brown
Published: 02 March 2006
Judges in Milan will press charges against Tessa Jowell's husband, David
Mills, and the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, in connection
with a $600,000 (£300,000) bribery scandal.
Just as Whitehall sources predicted the Culture Secretary would be
cleared but left critically wounded by the findings of a cabinet inquiry
into her role in the affair - to be revealed today - Italian sources
said there was sufficient evidence to try the two men.
The latest developments come after two weeks of damaging revelations
that have engulfed Ms Jowell, one of Tony Blair's staunchest allies. She
is understood to remain "bullish" about her future and to have discussed
her strategy with the Prime Minister yesterday at Downing Street while
preparing for local elections. But the allegations showed no signs of
abating.
Concern is mounting over Ms Jowell's important role during the build-up
for the 2012 Olympics. In particular, there is concern over whether she
used her husband's Italian connections to help win the bid for the Games
to come to London.
David Davis, the shadow Home Secretary, demanded a fresh inquiry into
allegations that the Home Office thwarted an attempt to extradite Mr
Mills by tipping off Mr Berlusconi's officials about the intentions of
the Milan prosecutors.
Mr Mills' Italian lawyer dismissed a plea bargain and that raised the
prospect of legal proceedings that could stretch on for several years
and cause prolonged embarrassment for the Blair government.
The decision to go to trial will be confirmed officially early next
week. But, before that, Ms Jowell must brace herself for the verdict of
the Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell's investigation into whether or
not she breached the ministerial code of conduct. Sir Gus will reveal
his findings in a letter to Theresa May, shadow Leader of the House, who
requested the inquiry.
Sir Gus is understood to have gone over the financial allegations
surrounding Mr Mills with the Italian prosecutors, and established
whether Ms Jowell told her permanent secretary of a possible conflict of
interests. Mr Mills is planning to issue his own statement to coincide
with Sir Gus's findings.
Ministers rallied round the Culture Secretary last night.
Baroness Jay, a former cabinet minister and a friend of Ms Jowell, said
she was feeling the pressure after coming under "enormous personal
attack".
Even a member of David Cameron's Shadow Cabinet privately said he hoped
she would be cleared. "She's a really nice person," he said. "I hope
that no Conservatives try to make political capital out of this because
I don't see that she has done anything wrong."
Under the ministerial code, ministers or their spouses are warned not to
accept gifts that may put them "under an obligation". The code also
warns: "Ministers must scrupulously avoid any danger of an actual or
apparent conflict of interest between their ministerial position and
their private financial interests."
It is alleged that Mr Mills received $600,000 as a reward for giving
false testimony on behalf of Mr Berlusconi during corruption trials in
1997 and 1998.
Mr Mills, an international specialist on tax avoidance who set up a
number of companies for the media tycoon during the 1980s, denies any
wrongdoing, saying the money was given to him by another Italian client,
Diego Attanasio. Ms Jowell was dragged into the row after it emerged she
had signed a document remortgaging the couple's north London home and
that money alleged to be from Mr Berlusconi was used to pay off her new
mortgage. She, too, denies any wrongdoing.
But, despite her popularity, Whitehall sources said if Ms Jowell was not
forced to resign she would be damaged by the affair. "The prosecutors
are not going to let this drop," said one official. "She won't be
completely in the clear." Ms Jowell will also face questions over how
she secured crucial Italian support for the London Olympics. Sources
from various cities in the 2012 campaign said that Mario Pescante, one
of the most powerful members of the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) and - as Italian sports minister - answerable to Mr Berlusconi,
became a surprise convert to London after initially backing the main
rival Paris. "We were astounded and perplexed by his support for London.
There was a belief that Berlusconi would virtually order Mr Pescante to
back London," said the source.
Mr Berlusconi, who will go on trial alongside Mr Mills, says the timing
of the trial is politically motivated. He is fighting for his political
life in elections that are scheduled to take place on 9 April and 10
April, and his centre-right House of Liberties coalition trails in the
opinion polls behind Romano Prodi's centre-left Union coalition.
But the prosecutors in the case say that the timing of the trial was
nothing to do with politics. They submitted their evidence as speedily
as they were able, they say, for fear that the case could be killed off
by a new statute of limitations law.
In one of his last acts before parliament was dissolved, Mr Berlusconi
pushed through a law which cuts the time allowed between the committing
of a white-collar crime and final appeal from 15 years to 10. That means
the Mills-Berlusconi case must be carried right up to the Court of
Cassation, Italy's highest court of appeal, by the end of next year - a
near impossibility in Italy's sluggish and over-burdened legal system.