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Letter from Mr Andrew Smith to the Parliamentary
Commissioner for Standards
Thank you for your letter dated 4 March 1996.
You make reference to my witness statement dated
28 June 1995. For the sake of completeness I am also enclosing
a second statement, dated 12 September 1996 which I gave in relation
to IGA's special damages claim. [68]
As you are aware, I do not have any papers relating
to the litigation in my possession. I resigned, in writing (copy
attached) from IGA (Holdings) Limited and my other IGA directorships
on 4 October. My comments can only therefore relate to events
that occurred prior to that date.
I have, since my departure, made a career move
and over the weekend found some very limited material relating
to the litigation. The only paper of significance is a draft statement
which I prepared on Sunday 29 September. I intended to release
this document to the media the following day - the day before
the cases were discontinued. On reflection I delayed my decision
to resign until Thursday, 3 October 1996 - although I have not
to this day released anything to the media.
Having reviewed the enclosure again today
I am confident that it is a true and accurate record of the events
prior to the Order discontinuing the action, which was made on
Tuesday 1 October.
I have never seen the document now known as
the "Heseltine memorandum" nor, so far as I am aware,
has IGA/Ian Greer. The Government's papers reached the offices
of Peter Carter-Ruck on Friday, 27 September; I remember this
because I was in Mr Ferguson's chambers when they arrived. By
that time Ian Greer had already made his decision (on the afternoon
of the previous day) to abandon the libel action, leaving Neil
Hamilton to fight the action on his own.
Peter Carter-Ruck and Partners decided, that
Friday morning, that they could no longer act on behalf of Neil
Hamilton on account of the conflict of interest between him and
IGA/Ian Greer. At the time that decision was made, they had not
seen the Government papers.
Included with this letter is a copy of a statement
prepared by Ian Greer on the morning of Friday, 27September
which he intended to issue. This was copied to Neil Hamilton's
advisers and contain their manuscript amendments at the top of
the paper.
The papers which I am enclosing are originals
and can be tested for authenticity in terms of dates. I hope that
this deals with points 1 and 2 contained in your letter but should
you require any further information then please let me know.
I acted as Secretary to the Unitary Tax Campaign
and was responsible for the administration of the campaign. I
was also their public affairs adviser for over ten years. I was
not aware that IGA was ever paying a "top-up" fee.
Certainly in earlier years when Sir Michael asked for an increase
in fee, I believe it went from £8,000 to £10,000, this
was agreed by the UTC. I am afraid I cannot offer any further
explanation. Until I received your letter, I was not aware of
any "top-up" fees. As you see from the enclosures to
this letter there were a number of discrepancies in relation
to payments to Sir Michael. It was as a result of unsatisfactory
explanations from Ian Greer that I took the decision to resign
on Sunday 29 September - three days after IGA/Ian Greer had withdrawn
from the case. This may however be the explanation for these payments.
You may wish to contact Mr Peter Welch, Chairman of the Unitary
Tax Campaign. He can be contacted on ***.
As a result of discovery, new and previously
undisclosed information regarding payments to Sir Michael came
to light. Previous to this I was only aware that Sir Michael had
received new business commission payments as set out in Ian Greer's
oral and written evidence to the Select Committee on Members'
Interests (Tuesday, 3 April 1990 and 9 May, 1990 respectively).
Until the special damages discovery I did not know of any ongoing
financial relationship with Sir Michael. Looking for the first
time at the manuscript "Z8" schedules called "Commission
and Fees" prepared and held by IGA's auditors Wilson Wright
and Co., I first learnt of the separate entries relating to "Fees".
This entry only applied to Sir Michael.
Finally, may I once again put on record that
I do not believe that Neil Hamilton or Ian Greer took money either
in cash or by cheque from Mr Fayed.
If I can be of any further help please let me
know.
Andrew M Smith
5 March 1997
I, Andrew Mark Smith, of IGA (Holdings) Limited,
19 Catherine Place, London, SW1E 6DX, will say as follows:-
1. This statement is supplemental to my statement
dated 28 June 1995.
The position prior to the article
2. Prior to the libel IGA was without doubt
Europe's leading independent public affairs company. Its client
list was second to none, profits had increased year on year and
I had every reason to believe that its growth would continue
and that it would continue to out perform its competitors in an
ever growing market.
3. The expansion began in earnest in 1992. Following
the 1992 General Election Angie Bray, former Head of Conservative
Central Office Press Department, joined IGA to head up the IGA
Media Unit. This was a new concept where we saw a growth market.
We perceived, as did our clients, an increasing need to provide
a political media service. By way of example, we provided such
a service in relation to the campaigns to keep open the Royal
Brompton National Heart and Lung Hospital and the Royal Marsden
Cancer Hospital which the Government was intent on closing.
4. We also created new positions within IGA
in order to enable us to expand for the new business we anticipated
taking on.
5. At IGA's Board meeting on 10 July 1992
Ian Greer instructed IGA's lawyers and accountants to start looking
at the possibility of establishing IGA Europe, IGA UK and a separate
holding company. At IGA's Board meeting on 23 October 1992, IGA's
four Divisional Directors were made Associate Directors of the
company. The time of John Roberts (who headed the Brussels operation)
and my time and the time of Ian Greer was increasingly devoted
to the planning and implementation of our agreed expansion. Our
staff were and are of the highest quality. The IGA team was consistently
being head-hunted given their high professional standards and
tendency to over-service clients. There is barely a consultancy
which does not have or which has not had an IGA person amongst
their numbers. Several consultancies come to mind such as APCO,
Hill and Knowlton, Brunswick, Market Access, GJW, Westminster
Policy Partnership and Political Planning Services.
6. At the Board meeting on 11 December 1992
I reported that we had taken on three additional staff since
the last Board meeting - Richard Green, Nick Claydon and Kim Humphreys.
We also appointed Lady Beck, part time.
7. At the Board Meeting on 26 February 1993,
I reported to the Board that I had offered a job to Perry Miller,
former Special Adviser to the Right Hon. Malcolm Rifkind, QC,
MP, the then Secretary of State for Defence. Perry would work
with Ann Pettifor in her Division. I recall at that meeting that
it was felt by all that we now had a full compliment of staff
both in London and Brussels. Ian Greer, who always has concerns
about staff welfare, hoped that this would absorb much of the
pressure on those who had been working extremely long hours.
8. On 1 October 1993 Ian Greer announced the
creation of IGA (Holdings) Limited of which I was to become Group
Managing Director and two subsidiary companies, Ian Greer Associates
Limited and Ian Greer Associates (Europe) Limited. We now had
the right structure for expansion and the right team.
9. In the year 1992-93 IGA made substantial
profits of £353,000. The Conservatives had been re-elected
and a new legislative programme was planned based on the Conservative
Manifesto. As I have stated above, we planned to expand IGA's
business and had developed the infrastructure necessary to do
so. There was likely to be a substantial amount of new business
available to lobbying companies as proved to be the fact; for
example, further privatisations were planned, proposals were
being mooted for the Department of Health to embark on a wide
ranging hospital closure programme in London.
10. Naturally, we had to incur substantial costs
to do this. We had built in sufficient capacity to cope with
telephones, computers, office accommodation and now had enough
account handling capacity to cope with a 25 per cent increase
in fee income. This is one of the reasons why during the financial
year 1993-94 IGA's profits went down from £353,000 to £182,000.
11. As a result of the anticipated new business,
we signed a ten year lease on another building in Catherine Place,
No. 9 at a commencing rental of £28,628 on 24 June 1992 in
order to house staff taken on. We spent a considerable amount
of time and money bringing the building at No.9 up to the appropriate
standard. Ian Greer has always insisted that all the staff, regardless
of their position within the company should work in good office
conditions given the amount of hours put in by the IGA team.
This provided IGA with over an extra 2,000 square feet of office
space spread over five floors allowing ample expansion capacity.
12. IGA also purchased a new telephone system
and extended it to No. 9. I recall that this was at a cost of
around £30,000. This was installed in phases during January-March
1994. The previous Plessey telephone system was not coping with
the ever increasing capacity of incoming and outgoing calls. This
new telephone system made provision for an extra 21 extensions
in the new building with a possible capacity for 30 extensions.
To cope with additional telephone traffic and anticipated client
traffic through the buildings, we appointed an additional receptionist
bringing the total to two.
13. In addition to those costs, there were (one
off) factors which affected profits in the year 1993-94: IGA's
contract with the Government of Malaysia had come to an end;
John Roberts, a founder member of IGA had left the company and
was given an ex-gratia payment of £20,000; there was
a decline in the amount of "merger and acquisition"
work due to the recession; and Ferranti, to whom IGA acted as
advisers became insolvent as a result of which IGA lost £12,138.
14. Nevertheless, before the article, prospects
for IGA were extremely good. The market for the service which
we provided (and in which we were generally accepted to be and
recognised as the key player) was expanding and IGA had geared
itself to expand accordingly. It is right to say that we had been
affected to an extent by a whispering campaign conducted by The
Guardian and David Hencke to the effect that disclosures
would be made by them which would damage IGA. Naturally, such
a campaign had an effect on our business. For that reason as
well as for reasons of good business management IGA was looking
for savings in the region of around £100,000 in the UK for
the year ending June 1995. There is no reason to suppose, however,
that had the article complained of not been published the effect
of that campaign would have been short lived.
The Big 8
15. The objective
of IGA's involvement with Price Waterhouse and the 7 other major
accounting firms (known as the "Big 8") was to achieve
limited liability status for the accountancy profession. In order
to meet that objective, primary legislation would need to be
introduced in the 1995-96 Parliamentary Session, which would
begin in November 1995. IGA would have then followed the legislation
through Parliament which would have meant another year's work.
In this respect I refer to the flow chart prepared by IGA for
the Big 8 showing the passage of the proposed legislation through
Parliament.
16. Following the publication of the article
in The Guardian on 20 October 1994 IGA received a telephone
call from the office of Ian Brindle, the Senior Partner of Price
Waterhouse and Chairman of the Big 8 requesting that Jeremy Sweeney,
the Managing Director of Ian Greer Associates, and myself meet
Mr Brindle at Price Waterhouse, Southwark Towers, 32 London Bridge
Street, London SE1 on the morning of Tuesday 25October 1994.
17. On the morning of 25 October 1994, Mr Sweeney
and I attended a meeting with Mr Brindle. There was a copy of
The Guardian of 20 October 1994 on the table in Mr Brindle's
office. I explained to Mr Brindle that there was no truth whatsoever
in the allegations in The Guardian. Mr Brindle said that
he had had discussions with the Senior Partners in the other
major accounting firms and he informed Mr Sweeney and myself that
the Big 8 had decided to bring IGA's contract with them to an
end as a result of The Guardian allegations, particularly
because they involved Neil Hamilton MP, the Minister with responsibility
for their profession. I recall Mr Brindle saying that the Big
8 had little option but to terminate their relationship with IGA.
On 25 October Mr Brindle then wrote to Ian Greer informing that
it was necessary for the Big 8 to terminate their relationship
with IGA as the recent allegations made it untenable for their
association to continue.
Lost opportunities
18. There is no question that the public affairs
industry is going through a boom period of which IGA has been
unable to take advantage because of the damage done to it by the
article complained of. APCO a subsidiary of the US company Grey
recently established itself both in London and Brussels. Lowe
Bell established Lowe Bell Political - I was head hunted to be
its Managing Director role. Leighton Andrews, currently Head of
Public Affairs at BBC is establishing a new political consultancy
from 1 November 1996 consultancy "Political Context".
Evidence of this growth and continued growth is very clearly demonstrated
by the attached "revised list of contracts gained by other
public affairs companies" since 20 October 1994. Of course
this list only demonstrates contracts about which we have learned
from public sources, notably PR Week, Public Affairs Newsletter
and the Association of Professional Political Consultants annual
registers. This list, dated 15 August 1996, can undoubtedly be
added to because there will clearly be other companies, trade
unions, charities etc. who will have made appointments but for
one reason or another, have not publicised the fact. This is not
an unusual practice. When reviewing the list I consulted my colleagues
Ian Greer, Perry Miller and Robbie MacDuff, with a view to assessing
the value of those contracts referred to on pages 1 and 2. Some
of these figures were our best estimates, others were taken from
the published sources to which I have already referred.
The current position
19. As a result of The Guardian's campaign
against IGA we have had to make a number of IGA's staff redundant
and last year sub-let two floors at No. 9 to another company.
Today IGA has only two members of staff at No. 9. Two floors
in that building remain empty.
20. It is my belief that the allegations
published by The Guardian in October 1994 destroyed a flourishing
and expanding business. Morale in the company has, since the
article, reached rock bottom, although things have slightly improved
now that we have a trial date. Our turnover and profitability
have been devastated and the company has missed out on the boom
period enjoyed by the rest of the industry. Given the nature of
the business itself it is uncertain and even perhaps unlikely
that the business can ever be rebuilt.
21. The contents of my statement are true to
the best of my information and belief.
Andrew Smith
12 September 1996
STATEMENT BY ANDREW MARK SMITH, GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR,
IAN GREER ASSOCIATES (HOLDINGS) lIMITED, 19 CATHERINE PLACE,
LONDON, SW1E 6DX
1. I was born on 5 July, 1962, in St Luke's
Hospital Guildford, Surrey. I was adopted at birth, by Mr and
Mrs George Victor Smith. I was educated first at St Stephen's
RC Primary School and then at St Columba RC Secondary Modern
School. I left school in July 1978, at the age of 16 and joined
the Civil Service as a Clerical Assistant in the Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in its Land Improvement Division.
I was then promoted to Clerical Officer and transferred to the
Eggs and Poultry Products Branch. During my time in the Civil
Service I was granted day release for one day a week for three
years, which enabled me to continue my education at "O"
and "A" levels.
2. I became more and more disillusioned with
the Civil Service, because in those days promotion seemed to
be based more on years of service in a particular grade, rather
than on ability. Also my immediate boss, an Executive Officer,
was an active Civil Service Union official in "SOCIETY",
who put pressure on me to strike when the Civil Service Unions
called days of action, which at that time it did rather frequently.
I left the Ministry in 1982 to join Ian Greer Associates Limited
(IGA), at 6 Buckingham Place, London SW1 on 1 May 1982.
3. I first met Ian Greer through a friend,
John Roberts, who was at the time the Researcher at IGA. My first
meeting with Ian was at an interview, conducted at the Carlton
Club over tea. I remember being nervous, not so much as a result
of the interview, but by having to balance a tea cup, saucer,
plate and knife on my lap at the same time. I was sure one was
going to go crashing to the ground. I remember Ian commenting
some years later that I interviewed very well. Ian asked me to
send him a CV, which I did on 10 March 1982. On 29 March 1982
Ian wrote to me offering a position at IGA. I wrote and accepted
his offer on 1 April 1982 and my employment commenced with the
company on 1 May 1982.
4. I have been employed by Ian Greer Associates
Limited since 1982, initially as a Researcher. I was made a Director
in 1988 and became Group Managing Director in 1993.
5. I have always been interested in politics
and have worked in a voluntary capacity for the Conservative
Party for over 10 years. I have held many different positions
such as Constituency Association Treasurer, then Chairman. I
also stood as a candidate in numerous local government elections.
In 1992 I stood as the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate in
the Cynon Valley, during the General Election. Despite what The
Guardian wrote in their article 5 October 1993 about my performance,
the Conservatives went from third to second place, increased
the number of votes, increased the percentage of overall votes
cast to the Conservatives and was one of only two seats, out
of 38, in Wales where there was a swing from Labour to the Conservatives.
6. My first memory of IGA's involvement
with Mohamed Al-Fayed was in October 1985 when Ian had returned
from a meeting with Lord King of Wartnaby, the then Chairman of
British Airways plc. Lord King had told Ian that he had recommended
IGA to Mr Al-Fayed in connection with his then battle with Tiny
Rowland of Lonrho. At that time I acted as Ian's "Personal
Assistant (Political)". The brackets had to be added to
the title in order not to upset his secretary, Wendy Donovan,
whom I joked with, referring to her as the "Personal Assistant
(Administration)".
7. During the time that IGA acted as advisers
to Mohamed Al-Fayed, I never actually met him, although I did
have considerable contact with his office and advisers. From a
very early stage it seemed that Mr Al-Fayed was obsessed with
"Questions in the Parliament". He and his advisers would
regularly dictate over the phone, or send telexes with draft
Parliamentary Questions (PQs) and then later draft Early Day Motions
(EDMs). It was our responsibility to identify which MPs or Peers
would be appropriate to approach to see if they would be prepared
to be briefed and, depending on whether they were convinced of
the case, table them.
8. Mr Michael Palmer of Palmer Cowan, Mr Al-Fayed's
solicitors, sent a telex on 5 November 1985 with three suggested
draft PQs. It was my responsibility, sometimes with Ian, to reword
them in the correct parliamentary language. I remember pointing
out to Mr Palmer that on 27 November 1985, it was Trade and Industry
Oral Questions in the House of Commons. I suggested that it may
be better if they were tabled (if an MP once briefed was prepared
to do so) as written PQs.
9. I often arranged the meetings with MPs
and Peers, such as the one with Bryan Gould, MP, the then Labour
Party Trade and Industry Spokesman on 18 December 1985 and with
Mr Al-Fayed's advisers, such as the one on 7 November 1985 between
Royston Webb, Ian and myself and 11 December 1985, between Mr
Michael Palmer, Mr Royston Webb and Ian.
10. On 16 and 17 January 1986, as part of the
Public Affairs Programme, it was agreed that Mr Al-Fayed should
write to a number of MPs and Peers. The letter was drafted by
Mr Michael Palmer for Mr Al-Fayed's signature. It was IGA's responsibility
to identify those to whom it should be sent, such as those who
spoke against The Observer during the Debate in the House
of Commons on 9 July 1981 on the paper's editorial freedom, the
Labour Chief Whip in the House of Lords, and the Officers of the
Conservative Back Bench Trade and Industry and Media Committees.
Ian Greer also wrote to some of those whom Mr. Al-Fayed wrote
to on 20 January 1986. We were anxious to follow up the letter
and progress the public affairs programme, especially as Mr Al-Fayed
was not available.
11. This exercise I remember very well as I
inadvertently put the wrong MP, Roger Gale, on the wrong list
which Mr Al-Fayed reacted to rather strongly and to make matters
worse, he sent Mr Gale a further letter and did not mince his
words. As a result of the unfortunate incident, Ian wrote to Mr
Al-Fayed on 23 January 1986 apologising for the mistake, which
was mine not Ian's, but also setting out where he felt the programme
should go from there.
12. On 16 July 1986 a further letter was
drafted, this time by IGA, regarding the legal action brought
by Mr Al-Fayed and his brothers against The Observer,
to a relevant group of Peers and MPs from the Liberal, Social
Democrat, Conservative and Labour Parties.
13. During the Parliamentary Recess in the Summer
of 1986 it was necessary for IGA to contact relevant MPs about
Lonrho's intention to increase it shareholding in News (UK) Ltd.
Given this would be an issue for the Office of Fair Trading,
it was necessary and appropriate to concentrate on the five Officers
of the Conservative Back Bench Trade and Industry Committee.
Mr Al-Fayed also wrote to them and others, such as Lord Fanshawe
of Richmond, KCMG, Rt Hon Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone, KG,
CH, FRS on 8 August 1986. Neil Hamilton, MP also received a letter
from Mr Al-Fayed, but declined to help Mr Al-Fayed, as he was
supporting Eddie Shah, who was a constituent and, I believe,
owned News (UK) Ltd.
14. On 3 April 1987 Ian invited, at Mr Al-Fayed's
request, a small number of Conservative MPs to visit Paris to
see the former home of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, which
Mr Al-Fayed had recently purchased and renovated. On 9 April
1987, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Rt Hon Paul
Channon, MP appointed inspectors to investigate the affairs of
House of Fraser Holdings plc. Ian discussed with me the proposed
visit to Paris, scheduled for later that month. Ian said that
he was going to cancel the visit as it could be misconstrued
and asked if I agreed, which I did. The visit was cancelled by
Ian on 10 April in the form of a letter.
15. On 11 May 1987 a General Election was
announced. I had been working, as an unpaid aide in a personal
capacity, to Rt Hon Lynda Chalker, MP and was due to go to Wallasey,
her constituency, for the majority of the Election Campaign.
Before leaving for Wallasey Ian discussed with me the monies he
had raised from Mr Al-Fayed and others. Ian regularly tried to
raise money for the Conservative Party not only at the time of
General Elections, but also during other times, such as Ian's
request to Mr Al-Fayed dated 9 October 1987 asking him to take
advertising space in the Winter Ball programme in aid of Conservative
marginal seats. Ian asked for my views as to whom should benefit
form the donations. We approached it from the point of view of
Conservative Candidates in marginal seats. The cheques were sent
to the fighting funds of candidates, not to the candidates personally.
I have not always agreed with Ian about donating to the Conservative
Party and indeed raised an objection to IGA sponsoring a book
about a collection of the Prime Minister's speeches.
16. On 21 March 1989, I arranged for a draft
letter to be typed on House of Commons paper (some paper had
been given to me by Mr Hamilton's secretary for this specific
purpose) for consideration by Neil Hamilton, MP for his signature.
The letter had been drafted by Mr Al-Fayed's advisers, who were
anxious to use the letter for publicity purposes. However, I
had not been able to meet with Neil Hamilton, MP, to talk him
through the letter and ascertain whether he was prepared to lend
his name to it. I marked the draft with the words "Not to
be released under any circumstances without the permission of
Ian Greer" as I was anxious to ensure that the letter was
not used until Mr Hamilton agreed its contents and was happy to
sign it. I remember popping across to see Mr Hamilton in the
House of Commons, for a few minutes. I seem to recall that he
in fact declined to sign the letter, this I communicated to Mr
Al-Fayed's advisers.
17. When the The Guardian article appeared
about "The Power and Prestige of Ian Greer", on 5 October
1993, Ian Greer and I were having dinner the night before, the
eve of the Conservative Conference, with a number of Lobby Correspondents
at the Riverhouse restaurant just outside Blackpool. We had heard
a number of rumours that an article on IGA was going to appear
on the first day of the Conference. It was designed to cause
IGA and the Conservative Party maximum embarrassment. We were
anxious about what the article was to say, given their enquiries
had been going on for months and indeed we left the dinner early
to go back to the hotel to see if the article had arrived. When
it was eventually faxed through to us we were surprised by its
tone, it almost seemed like an advertisement for IGA. With hindsight
it is now crystal clear that it was part of The Guardian
campaign to put us up to knock us down. I even managed to get
a copy of the billboard and had it framed for Ian, on behalf
of IGA.
18. On 12 May 1994, I received a call at
home, early in the morning, to say that they was a story in The
Guardian about a letter from me and "some Russians".
I had no idea what this meant until I arrived at the office and
saw the article. The Guardian published a letter from me,
dated 18 March 1994, to Richard Roberts, of Ecocon Ventures Inc.,
the bogus company set up by "The Cook Report" to conduct
a sting. There has been much made of the fact that IGA managed
to "pull" the programme. This is untrue. The first we
knew about the sting operation was when it appeared on 12 May
1994. During 1994 as part of The Guardian anti-IGA campaign
we found ourselves subject to two Early Day Motions being tabled
in the House of Commons.
19. My colleague, Robbie MacDuff, a high profile
and active member of the Labour Party wrote on 19 July 1994 to
many of those MPs who had signed the Early Day Motions, setting
out the facts and the truth. One of those MPs, Jeff Rooker, MP,
passed a copy of that letter to The Guardian and that then
became the subject of yet another article by Mr Hencke.
20. On 19 October 1994, I went into Ian's office
and he showed me a fax that he had received from David Hencke,
timed 16.16 hours. I recall discussing its content with Ian and
then together with another colleague, Angie Bray. At the time
of receiving the fax, we were quite relaxed as we did not appreciate
its seriousness, especially given the content in the fax, and
given that we had done nothing wrong. We put it down to the fact
that it was part of The Guardian campaign against IGA.
21. Andrew Stone, a Non-Executive Director
of IGA, was consulted and he dictated a response to Mr Hencke's
fax, which I signed on Ian's behalf and faxed back to Mr Hencke,
care-of the Editor's Office. Ian and I had numerous conversations
which revolved around the simple question "what now?".
I think it was fair to say that we had become battle-hardened
or battle-weary when it came to "The Guardian".
The seriousness became apparent when Neil Hamilton, MP telephoned
to say that he had seen Alex Carlile, QC, MP, who knew of the
story that was breaking the next day, about him and Tim Smith,
MP receiving money for tabling Questions. It was at this point
the full horror of the situation struck home. I took the decision
that we were best staying in the office and suggested that Ian
should spend the night in London. Both Andrew Stone and Andy Stephenson,
of Peter Carter-Ruck and Partners, were informed of the situation.
It was agreed that we would speak again when we had managed to
obtain a copy of the newspaper. I took some colleagues to the
pub for an hour in order to give Ian some time. I was concerned
about him, as he had been the subject of an unfair and untrue
campaign by a newspaper whose motives, in my view, were very
questionable. We returned from the pub shortly before 22.00 hours,
in time for the "News at Ten". At the end of the news
I recall that reference was made by the programme to a story
that was breaking about Ian Greer paying Ministers money to table
Questions. From that point on the telephones began to ring. We
watched "Newsnight" and it was at that point we saw
on screen a copy of The Guardian front page story on IGA.
Shortly afterwards a colleague returned to IGA from The Guardian
offices with copies of the paper. It was quite ironic that we
could not purchase a copy until then, whereas both "Newsnight"
and Alex Carlile, QC, MP had copies of the paper before we did.
We issued a Writ for libel the next morning.
22. We all left the office around 3.00 am, except
Ian, and agreed to return to the office at 7.00 am the following
morning. Having not slept I got to the office to find television
and newspaper journalists gathered outside. When I saw Ian I
knew the toll that these latest allegations were beginning to
have on him. He was looking drawn and tired.
23. I gathered the Directors together and we
quickly reviewed the press and attempted to map out a proposed
course of action for the day. I was anxious that we met with
the staff, which we did around 9.00 am, and brief them on events.
Both Ian and I stressed the need to show "business as usual"
especially with clients. We told the staff that we would be issuing
a Writ later that day and would be writing to clients to inform
them. The mood, understandably, was down. Many had concerns about
their own positions. Four colleagues were about to get married,
some of them about to buy houses.
24. We found a bogus British Telecom (BT)
Ford transit van, registration number G81 UXW, parked outside
our offices on and off between Monday 24 October and Thursday
27 October, 1994. We became suspicious and called BT to confirm
that the van was in fact theirs. BT informed us that the van had
in fact been sold by them in "early 1994". The police
were informed, and then written to, but by the time they had arrived
the van had driven away.
25. That day, and those which followed, affected
us all in so many different ways. There has been a physical price
which Ian has had to pay. The stigma of the article has remained
with us, with some friends clearly thinking "there is no
smoke without fire". I have had at least half a dozen offers
from competitors, offering me more money to leave IGA, all of
which I have turned down.
26. There have been times when I know Ian has
felt "I cannot go on". At one time when he was feeling
very low he said to me on the telephone, the Sunday following
publication, that I should start looking around for another job
as he did not think we could survive. At the end of the day there
is a limit to the number of direct hits you can take. The
Guardian has been gunning for us, long and hard. Ian is not
only my boss, but my closest friend. When he has been down I
have done what I can to bring him up, and vice versa.
27. The Guardian has almost succeeded
in destroying IGA. Since the article we have made four people
redundant and nine have left given the uncertainty of the company's
future. From a successful, profitable company we are now making
losses in the region of £20,000 per month. The Guardian
has damaged our reputation in the industry, Parliament and with
existing and potential clients. While, when we win the case we
will recover, it is questionable as to whether we will fully
recover. Whether we win or lose Mr Hencke will have won.
28. I have known Ian for nearly 13 years. Phrases
such as "you can rent MPs like taxis" are certainly
not phrases that Ian would ever use. It has been made up and
has no foundation at all.
29. The contents of this statement are true
to the best of my knowledge and belief.
Andrew Mark Smith
28 June 1995
Letter from Mr Andrew Smith to Mr Ian
Greer
I am writing to you to resign from my position
as Group Chief Executive and from my directorships in IGA (Holdings)
Limited and subsidiaries.
I have come to this decision with the greatest
reluctance, but I believe that there is no other course open to
me.
As I am sure you are aware, I have become increasingly
disillusioned over the last week with the revelations that have
emerged concerning the Company's defamation proceedings against
The Guardian. All of the matters which have come to light
in recent days took place before I joined the Board and have come
as a complete surprise to me. Many were also at odds with what
you had previously told me. In the circumstance, I feel that
my position within the Group has become intolerable and that I
can no longer work alongside you. Given the enormous help and
support that you have extended to me over the years we have worked
together, you will appreciate how difficult and painful a step
this is for me. Nevertheless, I hope you can understand why, as
a matter of principle, I can do nothing else.
Given the possible damage my decision will have
on you, IGA and Neil and Christine I think it is in everyone's
best interests that my decision is kept quiet until the media
circus finishes. Should I be approached I will be happy to say
I am on leave as I am tired and exhausted - which is true.
Andrew M Smith
4 October 1996
Draft Statement by Andrew M Smith, Group
Chief Executive, IGA (Holdings) Limited
Up until the latter part of last week I was
confident, indeed certain, that Ian Greer and Ian Greer Associates
would win their libel action against The Guardian newspaper.
The libel action concerned the allegations which Mohamed Al-Fayed
made on 20 October 1994 that he gave money to Ian Greer to pay
Tim Smith, MP and Neil Hamilton, MP for the asking of parliamentary
questions. With regard to the special damages claim, it was as
a result of discovery from documents held in the possession of
Wilson Wright and Company, that I found new material concerning
payments to Conservative MPs. These documents are inconsistent
with Ian's oral, and subsequent written evidence to the Select
Committee on Members' Interests. The Oral evidence was given on
Tuesday 3 April 1990 and confirmed in writing by Ian on 9 May
1990. The inconsistencies are extremely serious and remain unexplained
and they would destroy Ian's credibility in the Witness Box. These
documents cannot legally be withheld from the other side. This
information had never been disclosed, in any form whatsoever,
to me before my discovery of them last week or to any of the
employees of IGA.
Ian Greer, has agreed to waive the Hon Victoria
Sharp and Andy Stevenson's client confidentiality, and both are
prepared to go on the record to show that I knew nothing of the
newly revealed documents or of the inconsistency in Ian's evidence.
As a result of this information and it being handed over to Nigel
Tait of Peter Carter Ruck and Partners, and our Leading and Junior
Counsel and Andy Stevenson advised Ian Greer, Andrew Stone and
myself on the afternoon of Thursday 26 September that because
of the damage to Ian's crediablity our chances of winning were
now "0 per cent". However the central allegations of
the case are still not proveable by The Guardian.
Andrew M Smith
29 September 1996
Extract from written evidence by Mr Ian
Greer to the Select Committee on Members' Interest (1991)
In 1990, I appeared before the Select Committee
on Members' Interests and gave details of thank-you payments
for the introduction of new business that had been made by me
to three Members of Parliament. In preparation for my action
against The Guardian newspaper, following the allegations
which they had falsely made in connection with "cash for
questions", my accountants found that I had been supplied
by my office with inaccurate information. It would appear that
six thank-you payments for the introduction of new business were
made rather than three, and one payment to Member "B"
rather than two.
It is, I believe, my duty to immediately inform
Members of the Select Committee of the true facts. It is an error
that had been made by my office, for which I take full and total
responsibility. As it had become clear that The Guardian
was in possession of this information and intended to use it in
the trial, in an endeavour to discredit me in the witness box,
along with false information about my private life, I have no
option but to discontinue the action against The Guardian.
I wish to apologise to the Select Committee
and for the embarrassment that this will cause to Neil and Christine
Hamilton, who are wholly and totally innocent of the allegations
made by Al-Fayed in The Guardian newspaper and who would,
I believe, have been able to prove this fact in court, had it
not been for the totally unconnected issue of the error in my
evidence to the Select Committee.
68 Not all documents referred to as attachments or
enclosures are printed with this Appendix. Back
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