JONATHAN AITKEN, the former Tory cabinet minister who went to jail for perjury, has been rehabilitated into the political front line by David Cameron.

The Tory leader has appointed Aitken to lead a study into prison reform, it emerged this weekend. Cameron is supporting Aitken to head a policy task force for the Centre for Social Justice, the think tank which advises the Tory leader on social issues.

The appointment is likely to be seen as a remarkable comeback for someone who was jailed for 18 months in 1999 for “calculated perjury” during a libel action brought against The Guardian newspaper.

Aitken resigned as chief secretary to the Treasury in 1995 so that he could sue The Guardian over allegations that a Saudi businessman had paid for him to stay at the Paris Ritz in breach of ministerial rules. Launching the action, he had notoriously insisted that the “simple sword of truth” would help him to win.

The 65-year-old former minister confirmed that he would be heading the study for the think tank. “It is a cause dear to my heart for obvious reasons,” he said. “It is an assignment well worth taking extremely seriously. This isn’t an ego trip for me. This is a job to be done. I have a very good team who I think will help to do it well.”

Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader who runs the think tank, will formally unveil the appointment tomorrow.

At his trial Aitken was accused of weaving a “web of deceit” by the judge. He served seven months of an 18-month sentence for “calculated perjury” and was said to have committed a “gross and inexcusable breach of trust” in asking his daughter Victoria, then 16, to sign a false witness statement.

His appointment is an undoubted risk for the Tories. But Duncan Smith said: “Everybody deserves a second chance, that is the whole philosophy of the Centre for Social Justice. I am a profound believer in never writing people off.”

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