Pressure piles on Jowell over split-up

SENIOR ministers yesterday rallied round beleaguered British Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell as questions mounted about her involvement in her husband’s financial affairs.

Allies of Ms Jowell appealed for a line to be drawn under the issue after the announcement she and David Mills were to separate after 27 years of marriage.

But Conservative MPs warned they would continue to press for answers over whether she broke ministerial and parliamentary rules by failing to declare properly details of her husband’s controversial financial dealings.

And many Labour MPs still have a deep sense of unease about the world of secretive payments through complex networks of offshore companies which the affair has exposed.

But she has been supported by Cabinet ministers including David Miliband.

Mr Miliband said her position should not be affected by allegations in Italy that Mr Mills received a £350,000 (€510,000) bribe from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi over evidence he gave in a court case against him.

“She shouldn’t be charged with guilt by association. She has got a job to do and as long as she is doing it to a high standard I think she should carry on with it,” he told BBC.

He dismissed suggestions that Alastair Campbell, the former Downing St communications chief, was behind the announcement that the couple were separating in order to save Ms Jowell’s career.

The latest questions concern a report that Mr Mills made a £67,000 (€98,000) profit on shares he bought in a pub chain in 1998 at a time when Ms Jowell was a public health minister. Aides said all issues concerning her duty of disclosure were dealt with in statements last week by Mr Blair.

Tory MP Nigel Evans said he would be writing to Ms Jowell over whether she had properly declared all her and her husband’s interests. He said he was prepared to refer her to the Commons Standards and Privileges Committee.