AS the heavy velvet curtains concealing the entrance to one of London’s most
discreet restaurants parted, Ivan Henderson could hardly have been further
from his former constituency of Harwich in Essex.
Approaching the bar filled with shoppers sporting designer-label carrier bags,
the former ministerial aide ordered a shot of vanilla vodka and a couple of
drinks for his colleagues.
He was keen to set the ground rules for the evening. “Ministers are wary of
meeting new people and Gerry is coming out to relax,” he told a new female
colleague.
Gerry Sutcliffe, the prisons minister, was a reliable friend to Golden Arrow
Communications, the lobbying firm that employs Henderson. “[Gerry] has
actually recommended us to people,” Henderson explained to the new colleague.
Soon the group were joined by another senior Labour figure, David Jamieson,
the former transport minister. He was quickly followed by Sutcliffe who was
given the warmest welcome.
None of the men were aware that the new female colleague was an undercover
Sunday Times reporter investigating the inner workings of the
multi-million-pound lobbying industry.
The reporter was interested in the way former ministers and aides have become
lobbyists, using their connections to former friends and colleagues who are
still in government.
And here they all were. Sutcliffe enjoyed the French wine and gossip along
with his beef goulash. The conversation turned to Labour under Gordon Brown:
“Jowell is out, so is Har-man,” said one of those present. “Miliband will do
well and Johnson will do very well,” added another.
There was little overt discussion of business, but the evening at the Baltic
restaurant had gone extremely well.
Sutcliffe was happy to help the company, Andrew Sharp, Golden Arrow’s managing
director, told the undercover reporter the following morning.
The Sunday Times investigation had begun two weeks earlier when the reporter
took a job as an assistant at the lobbying firm, based in King’s Cross,
London.
Our inquiries were prompted by an insider who expressed concerns about the way
Golden Arrow’s Labour old boys were tapping up their former chums in
government.
Golden Arrow was founded 18 months ago by Sharp, a well-respected former
director of the Labour party in the north who has extensive contacts
throughout the party. He left his Labour job in 2002 after reportedly
narrowly failing to become the party’s general secretary.
During the reporter’s two months at the company it became clear it was
well-con-nected in Labour circles. At a series of dinners and drinks
parties, she was introduced to five ministers.
Sutcliffe, a 53-year-old former trade union official, appeared particularly
close to the firm. After the meal at the Baltic, he took a taxi with
Henderson, his drinking buddy.
The prisons minister was one of Henderson’s main contacts. Henderson could be
heard over the phone telling people that he spoke to Sutcliffe “every day”.
Their main haunt was an Italian bar and restaurant in Soho, London. It had
become popular with many Labour MPs, although Sutcliffe was worried that a
recent visit by the singer Emma Bunton to the restaurant might attract press
attention.
Earlier this month, the relationship between Golden Arrow and Sutcliffe
appeared to become even closer. At a meeting in Golden Arrow’s offices,
Henderson and Sharp were in buoyant mood following a dinner with Sutcliffe
the night before.
Henderson claimed the minister had been so accommodating that he had offered
to let the firm see his diary for the next two years. This would give the
firm opportunities to benefit from political intelligence and attract
clients by being one step ahead of the competition.
Henderson told his Golden Arrow colleagues: “He [Sutcliffe] is saying to us
‘Come on, you use me.’ That is what Gerry is actually saying . . . ‘I am
there to be used. I want to help you. Use me.’”
The minister, according to Henderson and Sharp, had encouraged Golden Arrow to
branch out from transport policy, which had become its specialism with
clients such as National Express. They claimed he wanted them to seek work
in his department, the Home Office.
Sharp reported that Sutcliffe had told them: “If you have got something, a
service you can sell, then sell it to me basically.”
Henderson elaborated: “[He is saying:] And I’ll make sure you get something
out of it, I’ll make sure you get some work out of it. Pick the right thing.
He is saying don’t get stuck in a corner with your transport stuff. There is
other stuff out there. Lots in the Home Office. Have a look round.
“Security, border controls and security in ports. He said there’s going to be
big issues around that.”
The meeting went on to discuss ways that the lobbying firm could capitalise on
Sutcliffe’s offer. It was suggested that they might become the promoters of
schemes in which construction companies would win contracts if they agreed
to employ ex-of-fenders.
Yesterday Sutcliffe issued a statement saying he had known the key figures in
Golden Arrow as party colleagues for many years. He denied any “impropriety”
in his relationship with the company.
As the weeks went by, further evidence of Henderson’s closeness to Sutcliffe
emerged. Both are involved in the campaign to promote Alan Johnson, the
education secretary, as the deputy leader of the Labour party.
Sutcliffe is Johnson’s campaign manager and Henderson is a trustee of his
fund-raising body. (Ironically, one of the donors and former trustees of the
campaign is Karl Milner, who was a lobbyist embroiled in Labour’s first
“lobbygate” affair nine years ago.)
Henderson confided that Gordon Brown had contacted Sutcliffe to privately
pledge his support for Johnson’s campaign, which he could not do publicly
until the contest formally started.
It was one of several pieces of Westminster intelligence obtained by the firm
during the reporter’s time there. She was also told responsibility for
prisons might be shifted to Ruth Kelly’s local government department and
that Richard Caborn, the sports minister, was tipped to become head of an
antidoping agency for the 2012 Olympics.
Henderson works alongside his Labour colleague Jamieson, the 59-year-old
former teacher who lost his ministerial post when he stood down from his
Plymouth constituency in 2005.
The former minister is paid £250 an hour as a freelance consultant lobbyist
for the company. He also acts for rival lobbyists Sovereign Strategy — a
fact that causes more than a little unease inside Golden Arrow. But he has a
wealth of contacts and experience in the transport sector because he was
minister for that department for four years.
Ex-ministers are supposed to be vetted by Whitehall’s advisory committee on
business appointments for two years after leaving office to ensure they do
not trade on their former job.
The system has been widely criticised for being voluntary — and Jamieson has
not sought approval from the committee.
Jamieson appeared to be actively using his contacts in the department. On one
occasion he could be heard on an office phone briefing Department for
Transport civil servants on how to approach a Commons debate on the bus
industry.
At a Golden Arrow away-day he gave a long presentation on lobbying the civil
service. He also gave advice on how to establish a relationship with a
minister.
“There are various ways you can do it. I mean, what I still do now is go to
the private office of a minister and say I’m trying to find out something
that would be helpful to the minister,” he said.
Earlier he had told the reporter about how he used similar tactics on Stephen
Ladyman, the transport minister.
“When you have got information, you make sure that you tell them [ministers].
It’s helpful to them. They think that’s good . . . I send to Stephen
Ladyman, I’ve got his mobile phone number and I’ll text him and say
‘Stephen, did you know so and so . . .?’ He’ll say thanks David, hadn’t
spotted that.
“And that’s just a text and he can pick it up in a meeting. He’s got it
on silent in a meeting . . . And then I’ll see him across a room and he’ll
say thanks for that . . . So then you just talk to him. Then there’s things
you want.”
Jamieson claimed that Ladyman would be helpful in return. “It’s a symbiotic
relationship,” he said.
Indeed Ladyman appeared to be very helpful to Golden Arrow. In a reference to
Ladyman, Henderson boasted: “Every time I e-mail him, he comes right back .
. . he says ‘Ivan, this is what the score is.’ He has never turned me down
yet. He has gone over the top really. It is a bit dodgy sometimes.”
The lobbying firm impresses clients with unpublished information and charges
up to £10,000 a month for “political intelligence and monitoring services”.
One dinner meeting between Ladyman and Henderson proved particularly fruitful.
Henderson said Ladyman had told him that the controversial legislation
paving the way for “pay-per-mile” driving had been delayed after a petition
against the plans had attracted widespread support.
He reported that Ladyman had said: “The transport bill is now going to be
delayed until after the local elections in May . . . They don’t want that to
be an issue before the elections or during the elections so they’ve put that
off, road charging.”
There was more. Ladyman had also divulged that Manches-ter had been chosen to
pilot the road-charging scheme once things had quietened down.
Golden Arrow is seeking to take on IBM, the computer company, as a client.
IBM is one of the companies that experts believe would hope to win a
multi-million pound contract to supply technology for road charging.
Finally, Ladyman was also said to have disclosed the government’s thinking on
the proposed expansion of Lydd airport in Kent. The Golden Arrow executives
regarded this as an opportunity to find new clients from businesses with an
interest in the airport.
This weekend Ladyman confirmed that both Henderson and Jamieson were friends
but said he would never divulge “inappropriate information” to them.
However, the Conservatives called for a Whitehall investigation into
Sutcliffe’s dealings with Golden Arrow.
Chris Grayling, the shadow transport secretary, said: “Ministers should not be
taking lobbying firms into their confidence over sensitive policy issues,
which give the clients of those lobbying firms a head start on what’s
actually going to happen. It is the political equivalent of sharing insider
information.”
On Friday The Sunday Times approached both Sutcliffe and Ladyman with a series
of detailed written questions. Both declined to comment on specific
allegations but issued statements.
Sutcliffe said: “There is no question of any impropriety in my relationship
with Golden Arrow Communications. These allegations have neither foundation
nor substance and I categorically deny any accusation of wrongdoing . . .
Ivan, Andrew and David are party colleagues of mine and I have known them
for many years.”
Ladyman’s statement said: “David Jamieson and Ivan Henderson are friends and
former colleagues. Since they left parliament I have met them socially and
at formal events on several occasions. We have obviously talked about
transport issues and politics on these occasions, as I do with other former
colleagues, but I am careful not to disclose inappropriate information
during such discussions.”
A statement by Golden Arrow said: “We are political consultants and make no
secret of our political connections and past political roles. We are very
aware of the need to act in a totally professional manner and to carry out
our business in accordance with the highest standards which we ensure we
always do.
“We would like to make it absolutely clear that our relationships with MPs and
ministers is and has always been entirely proper. Any suggestion to the
contrary is untrue. Many of the wider issues that you refer to are matters
that are already in the public domain.” Additional reporting: Tom
Baird
