Downing Street political adviser Ruth Turner has been arrested by
police investigating the cash-for-honours allegations.
The
government has confirmed Ms Turner, a senior adviser to the prime minister, was
arrested at 6.30 Friday morning but was later released without charge.
We
understand that Ms Turner,
the director of government relations, effectively the main link between Number
10 and the Labour Party, was first questioned by police under caution about the
allegations in September, and subsequently another 3 times, was arrested today
for perverting the course of justice.
We hope that this
will induce her to forget her party loyalties, and ‘spill the beans’ on the
real criminals in this affair, all of them.
It
would appear that the cover up could be as big a story as the cash for peerages
probe.
In July 2006 it
had been reported that she was at the centre of another political corruption
probe. Her ex-partner Matt Finnegan, had been suspended from his job as Head of
Media Relations at Liverpool City Council when it emerged he had awarded a
lucrative council contract to Turner's former company, the Big Issue in the
North in 2002, two years after she had left the company.
At the time Turner
released a statement through 10 Downing Street in response to the report, where she
commented: “There is no truth in this. I left the Big Issue in the North
in May 2000. I understand this work was awarded by Liverpool City Council to
the Big Issue in the North in July 2002. I have no knowledge of, nor was I
involved in, any aspect of this.”
It would appear
that the same defence wont work this time.
By now Ms Turner's details will have been entered into the Police National Computer and her DNA samples sent away for analysis and entry into the DNA register, and if my understanding of the new laws are correct, this arrest should now also facilitate an automatic investigation by the new Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).
Our
message to AC Yates is, well done, but don’t stop there. If they are involved,
have courage and go get them all, and purge our political institutions of
corruption.
