Appendix
1. Letter from Michael Connarty MP, Chairman
of the Committee, to all Members of the Committee, 28 June 2007
Once again I find myself having to write to all Members
of the Committee following the appearance in press reports of
direct quotes from briefing papers from the Committee's advisers.
We have had a further and more serious leak. An article
which appeared in the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday 26 June drew
on and directly quoted briefing on the draft mandate for the
IGC which the Committee's legal adviser, Michael Carpenter, provided
for the Committee's meeting on 20 June together with an update
of that note which was sent out just prior to the PM's Statement
on the European Council on Monday 25 June.
The note dated 20 June was sent round by e-mail at
12.18 and hard copies were provided at the Committee meeting that
afternoon. The briefing note dated 25 June was e-mailed to all
Committee Members and their staff at 13:33 on that day.
It is clear to me that the leak constitutes serious
interference with the work of the Committee. Not only does it
undermine the ability of our advisers to give forthright advice
to the Committee, because of it, the plan to produce a short report
on the IGC mandate has not been proceeded with.
In line with the procedure set out in Erskine May,
the Committee has to carry out its own investigation to try to
discover the source of the leak. I am therefore formally asking
all Members of the Committee and their staff if they can explain
how the leak came about. In your case, ………. in
your office also received a copy of the two e-mails and should
therefore be asked to respond to this letter as well. The Clerk
will be asking the same question of the Committee's staff.
The Committee will then inform the Liaison Committee
and in the light of that Committee's views may make a special
report to the House. Such a special report would automatically
be referred to the Standards and Privileges Committee.
2. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Mr Wayne David MP, 28 June 2007
Thanks for your letter. "No" I did not
pass the paper to the papers or anyone else.
3. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Mr Chris Bradley (Parliamentary Researcher to Wayne David MP)
I can confirm that I have not passed on any document
that I have received from the European Scrutiny Committee to anybody,
including the one that was prepared by Michael Carpenter and is
dated 25 June.
4. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Mr David Heathcoat-Amory MP, 3 July 2007
I can confirm that I know nothing about how the leak
of this information came about and that I did not disclose the
information in any way that might cause it to be published in
the press.
5. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Angus Robertson MP, 4 July 2007
Happy independence day! Thanks for your letter of
28th June regarding "Leak of Staff Briefing Papers and subsequent
Publication in Press Reports."
In deprecating the leak can I confirm that I did
not pass on the relevant documentation to anybody.
6. Email from Greg Hands MP, 6 July 2007
For the benefit of the investigation, I have never
leaked any documents from the ESC to the press.
7. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Mr Alistair Tebbit (Office of Rt Hon David Heathcoat-Amory MP),
3 July 2007
I can confirm that I know nothing about how the leak
of this information came about and that I did not disclose the
information in any way that might cause it to be published in
the press.
8. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Jim Dobbin MP, 4 July 2007
Re: Leak of Briefing Papers to Daily Telegraph.
I write to reassure you that I did not leak the above
to the media.
9. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Nia Griffith MP, 4 July 2007
Dear Michael, I confirm that neither I nor any member
of my staff leaked the briefing paper sent by email by Thomas
Powell with the IGC mandate in 25th June 2007. I did print myself
a copy that I read and took good care of. I did not speak to any
member of the press of any EU matter that week.
10. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Ms Katy Clark MP, 4 July 2007
I write in response to your letter dated 28 June
regarding the above. I have spoken to my staff members, Stuart
Watkin and Trish Wallace, who have access to my email account
who have both assured me that they did not leak any papers or
emails from the European Scrutiny Committee to the Daily Telegraph.
For my own part I also did not leak any papers or
emails from the European Scrutiny Committee to the Daily Telegraph
and have no knowledge of how this newspaper came to be in possession
of confidential information provided to the Committee.
I trust the terms of this letter are sufficient for
your purpose.
11. Email from Mr Federico Castellani-Koessler
(former Parliamentary Assistant to Angus Robertson MP), 5 July
Thank you ever so much for your reminder. I must
admit that I had previously failed to reply, seeing that as of
12/06/2007 I no longer work in Angus Robertson's office in the
House of Commons. Although this does not by necessarily disculpate
me by definition, I assure you that I have no idea of either what
briefing this enquiry concerns, nor who might have leaked it.
However, should the Chairman wish to further discuss this matter
with me, please pass on both my personal e-mail and my mobile
phone number.
Wishing you all the best in clearing this matter
up,
12. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Mr Stuart Watkin (Researcher for Katy Clark MP), 5 July 2007
In response to your letter dated 28 June I have no
knowledge of how information came to be leaked to the Daily Telegraph
and did not pass on any documents or emails from the European
Scrutiny Committee to this newspaper.
13. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Mr James Clappison MP, 6 July 2007
Further to your letters of 28 June, regarding the
leaking of briefing papers, I wish to any deny any knowledge of
the event.
The email in question arrived in my private secretary's
email account on Monday, 25 June at 13.33. I did not see the email
as I was away from the House of Commons with the Council of Europe.
I understand my private secretary did not print off the email
neither did she forward it on to any other person.
14. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Emma Tilley (Private Secretary to Mr James Clappison MP), 6 July
2007
Further to your letter of 28 June, regarding the
leaking of briefing papers, I wish to any to deny any knowledge
of the event.
I received an email from Thomas Powell, Committee
Assistant, on Monday, 25 June at 13.33. Mr Clappison was away
from the House of Commons with the Council of Europe, therefore,
I did not print off the email for his use neither did I forward
it on to any other person. The email is now in the 'Deleted Items'
in my House of Commons email account.
I hope I have provided you with the information you
require.
15. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Mr William Cash MP, 10 July 2007
I wrote to you last week and I am now told the letter
has not arrived with the ESC which I cannot understand.
I therefore reaffirm categorically that I did not
supply the Daily Telegraph with Michael Carpenter's documents,
and nor did my PA, Tony Lodge.
16. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Mr Tony Lodge (Office of Mr William Cash MP), 10 July 2007
I wrote to you last week and I am now told the letter
has not arrived with the ESC which I cannot understand.
I therefore reaffirm categorically that I did not
supply the Daily Telegraph with Michael Carpenter's documents.
17. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Mr Anthony Steen MP, 10 July 2007
I unfortunately did not receive your individual letter
of 28th June until it was resent by e-mail on 5th July. As a result
I have not been able to reply before now.
In response to your letter I am unable to help with
your enquiries about how the leak came about which resulted in
the article in the Daily Telegraph on 26th June.
I was in fact away in Panama that week and did not
see the European Scrutiny papers until my return on Monday 25th
June. My office team had not studied them until I saw them and
also have no knowledge or information which might be able to help
with your enquiries. They have confirmed to me that they have
had no dealings with the Daily Telegraph and have not been in
touch with any media in relation to the work of the European Scrutiny
Committee.
18. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Mr Bob Laxton MP, 11 July 2007
I can confirm that I have not in the past nor will
I in the future disclose any confidential committee reports to
any third parties and parties who are not members of the ESC.
19. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Mr Lindsay Hoyle MP, 11 July 2007
Thank you for your letter regarding documents being
leaked to the press.
I can assure you and the committee that I have not
leaked any European Scrutiny Committee documents.
20. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Mr Peter Wilson (Research Assistant to Lindsay Hoyle MP), 11 July
2007
Thank you for your letter regarding documents being
leaked to the press.
I can assure you and the Committee that I have not
leaked any European Scrutiny Committee documents.
21. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from
Kelvin Hopkins MP, 11 July 2007
Thank you for your letter regarding the leak to the
Daily Telegraph about the Committee's legal adviser's briefing
on the draft mandate for the IGC Conference.
I can confirm that only I and my Parliamentary Assistant
saw the staff member's paper and that neither I nor my assistant
communicated it to anyone else.
I hope this helps with your deliberations.
22. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee
from Richard Younger-Ross MP, 11 July 2007
I confirm that I have no knowledge of any leak of
papers by the committee advisors. I have not passed on any papers
to any journalist and have not at any time discussed these matters
with the Daily Telegraph.
I have no staff in London and my staff do not generally
see any papers from the committee. I have spoken to my staff who
have confirmed that they have not seen any of these papers.
23. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee
from Mr David S. Borrow MP, 3 July 2007
Just a note to confirm I did not pass on or leak
the briefing paper and I can also confirm that no member of my
staff passed the report on either.
24. Letter to the Chairman of the Committee
from Mr Sam Ladbury (Parliamentary Researcher to Michael Connarty
MP)
I would like to put in writing that I have at no
time passed information to the press intended for the European
Scrutiny Committee. This is in particular reference to the note
by Michael Carpenter on the draft IGC dated 20th and 25th June.
25. Letter to the Clerk of the Committee
from Michael Connarty MP, 3 July 2007
I think it is important to put on the record that
I did not pass the briefing from Michael Carpenter of 25 June
2007. Indeed I have not passed any of our documents from officials
to the media directly or indirectly at any time.
26. Letter to Committee staff from Alistair
Doherty, Clerk of the Committee, 28 June 2007
As you will know, an article which appeared in the
Daily Telegraph on Tuesday 26 June drew on and directly quoted
briefing on the draft mandate for the IGC which the Committee's
legal adviser, Michael Carpenter, provided for the Committee's
meeting on 20 June together with an update of that note which
was sent out just prior to the PM's Statement on the European
Council on Monday 25 June.
The note dated 20 June was sent round by e-mail at
12.18 and hard copies were provided at the Committee meeting that
afternoon. The briefing note dated 25 June was e-mailed to all
Committee Members and their staff at 13:33 on that day.
The leak constitutes serious interference with the
work of the Committee. Not only does it undermine the ability
of the Committee's advisers to give forthright advice, because
of it, the plan to produce a short report on the IGC mandate has
not been proceeded with.
The Committee has to carry out its own investigation
to try to discover the source of the leak. I am therefore formally
asking all the Committee's staff if they can explain how the leak
came about.
The Committee will then inform the Liaison Committee
and in the light of that Committee's views may make a special
report to the House. Such a special report would automatically
be referred to the Standards and Privileges Committee.
27. Letter to the Committee Clerk from Michael
Carpenter, Legal Adviser to the Committee, 28 June 2007
Thank you for your letter of 28 June.
As I explained to you, the Committee's Standing Orders
provide that "the Committee and any sub-committee appointed
by it shall have the assistance of the Counsel to the Speaker"
(SO 143(3)). It was in that capacity that I prepared the two notes
for the Committee, and in that capacity in which I now reply.
It is my belief that both notes were drawn upon by
the author of the article appearing in the Daily Telegraph on
Tuesday. I say this because the sixth paragraph contains a quotation
which is from my first note, whereas the other quotations are
from my second note.
The draft IGC Mandate was e-mailed to me by Martyn
Atkins at 9:27 am on 20 June. On receipt, I prepared my first
note which I sent to you at 11:55 am and to John Vaux at 12:52
pm the same day. My e-mail to John Vaux describes the note as
having been sent out to Members 'this morning'. Those e-mails
were sent direct to the recipients and were not copied. I made
no other transmission of the note, except for sending a copy to
Mr Cash's assistant, Tony Lodge at 11:13 am on 25 June. This followed
a telephone call to me that morning by Mr Cash. I received an
acknowledgement from Mr Lodge at 11:17 am.
The note was discussed at the meeting of the ESC
on 20 June, when the Chairman asked me to speak to it. It appeared
to me to be of interest to Members who were concerned to be able
to follow the progress of the negotiations at a critical juncture.
Tom Powell received an e-mail from Alistair Tebbitt
(who works for Mr David Heathcoat-Amory MP) at 2:08 pm on 21 June,
asking for further clarification of the note. I was away that
day, replied the following day at 12:08 pm. I attach a copy of
the e-mail message (Annex A).
On Monday 25 June Martyn Atkins sent a copy of the
Council Conclusions to the ESC office. I was sent a separate e-mailed
version, but saw it in hard copy. On the basis of this, I prepared
a second note to update Members on what had been said in the first
note. I felt it was my duty as the Committee's legal adviser to
produce a further note to the extent that my earlier note had
been overtaken by events. I e-mailed this to you at 13:17 pm that
day. I also e-mailed a copy to John Vaux at 13:30pm. Both e-mails
were addressed solely to the recipients, with no copies sent elsewhere.
Because of IT problems, the text of the note could not be placed
on the M drive, but had to be saved on my datastick, which never
left my possession. I mention this, because it rules out any possibility
of any member of ESC staff gaining access to the note by means
of the M: drive.
I received a further copy of the second note when
Tom Powell's e-mail of 13:33 pm was copied to me. I received a
further electronic version at 13:57 pm when you copied the note
to Clerk Advisers.
Apart from the transmission of the note to you, John
Vaux, and Tony Lodge, I did not send or otherwise communicate
either note to anyone. I have no other information relevant to
the inquiry, save to report that Mr Cash telephoned me on the
morning of 26 June to express his regret that my name had appeared
in the Daily Telegraph and to assure me that he had not been responsible
in any way for the leak. I said that such a thought had never
crossed my mind.
I write this letter on the same basis as if it were
a witness statement and declare it to be true. I have mentioned
others in the letter, and I am entirely content that you should
show them a copy of this letter, as you judge appropriate. I have
not done so.
ANNEX A
Email of 12.08, 22 June 2007 to Thomas Powell (Committee
Assistant) and Alistair Tebbit (Office of Mr David Heathcoat-Amory
MP)
I should point out (I hope not defensively) that
I did not see the IGC mandate until 9.30 on Wednesday morning,
so only had a couple of hours to digest it and prepare a note.
There may well be some loose ends, and certainly points which
I did not have time to cover.
On the CFSP point, the IGC mandate speaks of the
existing Title V being amended by inserting 'two Articles, as
agreed in the 2004 IGC, on the principles and objectives of the
Union's external action and on the role of the European Council'.
As you say, the substance of Article I-16(1) CT now appears as
a new Article 11(1) EU (see the amendments to the EU Treaty in
Annex 1). The substance of Article 16(2)CT is already in Article
11(2) EU, except for the obligation to 'comply with the Union's
action in this area' - but I am not sure how significant it is
to drop this requirement.
According to the Mandate, the second and third chapters
of Title V EU will be kept, but 'as amended in the 2004 IGC'.
What this means is not clear: are Article 1-40 and 41 such provisions?
Arguably, they are the provisions in which it will be clearly
specified that CFSP is subject to specific procedures and rules.
It does not seem likely that Articles 111-292 to 313 would go
to the EU Treaty, rather than the EC Treaty (or the Treaty in
the Functioning of the EU).
This is the best I can make of this, but I am happy
to discuss.
28. Letter to the Committee Clerk from Thomas
Powell, Committee Assistant, 28 June 2007
I can confirm that I have no knowledge of how confidential
legal advice on the draft IGC mandate was leaked, resulting in
its partial publication in the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday 26 June.
In case it is of use to your inquiries I have set
out a note of what legal briefing on the IGC mandate was sent
to Members and when:
Tuesday 19 June: Report from the Presidency, 'Pursuing
the treaty reform process' dated 14 June 2007 (with annotations
by Michael Carpenter, Legal Adviser, in italics), circulated to
Members and other Committee contacts as a paper to note with other
Committee papers at approximately 4.30 pm.
Wednesday 20 June: A note by Michael Carpenter on
the Draft IGC mandate for the European Council, emailed by James
Clarke, Deputy Committee Assistant, to Members and their staff
at 12.18 pm. Hard copies of this were also distributed to Members
at the Committee's meeting at 2.30 pm.
Monday 25 June: Updated note by Michael Carpenter
on the IGC mandate emailed, by me, to Members and their staff
at 1:33 pm (I have attached a copy of this email which lists the
names of the Members and their staff who were sent this).
29. Letter to the Committee Clerk from Gunnar
Beck, Assistant Legal Adviser, 3 July 2007
Thank you for your letter of 28 June 2007. I wish
to confirm that I neither am responsible for leak nor have any
knowledge of any of the circumstances in which it occurred.
30. Letter to the Committee Clerk from Peter
Harborne, Clerk Adviser, 2 July 2007
Please refer to your letter to me of 28 June 2007.
I regret that I am unable to cast any light on how
this occurred.
31. Letter to the Committee Clerk from Terry
Byrne, Clerk Adviser, 28 June 2007
I was not the source of this leak. I do not know
who was.
32. Letter to the Committee Clerk from Simon
Patrick, Clerk of Delegated Legislation, 2 July 2007
Thank you for your letter of 28 June asking for any
explanation I can give about the leak of Michael Carpenter's two
pieces of advice about the draft mandate for the IGC.
I have checked my in-box and can confirm that I was
not included in either of the email circulations to which you
refer; the papers were also not included amongst those circulated
to me in hard copy on 25 or 26 June.
I cannot therefore explain how the leak came about.
33. Letter to the Committee Clerk from David
Griffith, Clerk Adviser, 2 July 2007
This is just to say, in response to your letter of
28 June, that I can shed no light on how this leak came about,
and that I had no part in it.
34. Letter to the Committee Clerk from Emma
Webbon, Second Clerk to the Committee, 28 June 2007
Re: your letter of 28 June, I can confirm that I
did not have any involvement in the leaking of this document,
nor do I have any information on how this leak came about.
35. Letter to the Committee Clerk from James
Clarke, Chief Office Clerk, European Scrutiny Committee, 28 June
2007
I confirm that I was not responsible for the leak
of confidential legal advice on the draft IGC mandate, which lead
to its partial publication in the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday 26
June. I emailed a copy of the Legal Adviser's note of 20 June
to Members and their staff on 12.18 on that date.
36. Letter to the Committee Clerk from Estelita
Manolo, Office Support Assistant, European Scrutiny Committee,
28 June 2007
I am so sorry to hear about the leak of staff briefing
papers and about this briefing being published in the newspaper.
I am writing to let you know that I had absolutely
nothing to do with this leak and I hope that whoever is guilty
will come forward in order for this investigation to end.
37. Letter to the Committee Clerk from Sir
Edward Osmotherly, Clerk Adviser, 28 June 2007
Thank you for your letter of earlier today.
I can assure you that I did not leak the papers and
that I have no idea how the papers came to the knowledge of the
Daily Telegraph.
38. Letter to the Committee Clerk from Su
Panchanathan, Committee Secretary, 28 June 2007
Just to confirm that I have no knowledge of the leak
of the briefing on the draft mandate for the IGC that appeared
in the Daily Telegraph on 26 June.
39. Letter to the Committee Clerk from Dory
Royle, Committee Secretary, 28 June 2007
I had no knowledge of the existence of the briefing
paper until the article was brought to my attention on the day
of publication.
40. Letter to the Committee Clerk from Allen
Mitchell, Database Manager/Registrar, European Scrutiny Committee,
28 June 2007
I can assure you that I had no knowledge of the briefing
paper's existence until it was brought to my attention on the
day of its publication in the newspaper.
41. Letter to the Committee Clerk from Keely
Bishop, Committee Secretary, European Scrutiny Committee, 16 July
2007
I confirm that I have no knowledge of how the leak
of staff briefing papers came about.
42. Letter to the
Committee Clerk from John Vaux, Speaker's Counsel, 17 July 2007
I agree that I received electronic copies of the
two notes in the circumstances described in detail in Michael
Carpenter's letter to you of 28 June 2007. The second note was
given limited further circulation but only within the House service.
43. Statement by Alistair Doherty, Clerk of
the Committee, 28 June 2007
I was not responsible for the leak of any Committee
paper and have no knowledge as to how any of the leaks came about.
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