'Concerns' over mayor's evidence
Updated on 11 February 2009
"Deep concerns" have been raised over the apparently contradictory evidence given by London Mayor Boris Johnson over the arrest of Tory MP Damian Green.
The Home Affairs Select Committee said Mr Johnson gave "no fewer than four different accounts" when giving evidence last week and in later communications about his contacts with David Cameron over the arrest.
Committee chairman Keith Vaz demanded a "prompt written clarification" of the timings of Mr Johnson's contacts with the Tory leader.
And he warned that the MPs may call the mayor back to give evidence again if he fails to provide a satisfactory account.
In a letter unanimously approved by the cross-party committee, Mr Vaz said the MPs were concerned about Mr Johnson's apparent lack of preparation for his February 3 appearance before them and the level of "respect and courtesy" he showed the committee in providing evidence and in later letters.
Mr Johnson appeared before the committee at the House of Commons last week to give evidence to its inquiry into events surrounding the November arrest of Tory immigration spokesman Mr Green over alleged leaks of Home Office information.
The mayor, who is also chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, initially denied speaking to Mr Cameron about the arrest on the day it happened.
He later confirmed that the pair had spoken "briefly" about the issue at a memorial service for murdered schoolboy Damilola Taylor at Southwark Cathedral that afternoon.
But speaking outside the committee after completing his evidence, the mayor said he had recalled that he spoke to the Tory leader by telephone that lunchtime as well as at the cathedral.
Mr Vaz described the change of mind as a "very serious matter" and asked him to clarify his account in writing.
The following day, Mr Johnson responded by letter: "As I told the committee yesterday, I needed to check with my office about the timings of conversations with the leader of the Opposition.
"As I told you immediately afterwards, it turned out that I had a brief conversation with David Cameron at about lunchtime after both of us had been informed by the police of the case."
The Home Affairs Select Committee's letter makes clear the anger felt by MPs at Mr Johnson's conflicting accounts.
Mr Vaz wrote: "We appreciated you coming before the Committee on Tuesday 3 February 2009 but the disparities between the evidence you gave us and your subsequent communications have led my Committee to express concerns about your apparent level of preparation to give formal evidence to a select committee of the House of Commons.
"We are also concerned about the level of respect and courtesy you have shown the Committee in providing evidence and especially in your subsequent communications.
"The Committee are unanimously resolved in their decision to request that you now provide a prompt written clarification of the actual times of the calls made to David Cameron on the day of Damian Green's arrest, with some indication of the basis on which you can now be confident of your evidence.
"The Committee will again consider your response and we reserve the right to call you back as a witness to clarify your position further if we do not find it satisfactory."
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