UNITED'S GRANT - WHO'S TELLING THE TRUTH?

Last updated : 02 May 2006 By Ed

From the Indie:

The last thing Tony Blair needs right now is for another loyal minister's head to appear on the chopping block.

If he thought Tessa Jowell was out of the woods, he'd better think again, though. The Culture Secretary, only recently recovered from the David Mills affair, is about to be thrown back into the firing line.

Last week, Pandora raised an eyebrow at Jowell's comments in Parliament about a (highly criticised) decision to award a £30,000 lottery grant to Manchester United.

It was, she said, nothing to do with her. "This decision was taken by the regional sports board of Sports England. This was not a decision ministers were party to."

As I pointed out, these comments directly contradict those of the Sports Minister, Richard Caborn, who had days earlier told The Sunday Telegraph that he was "directly involved" in that very decision.

They can't have both been telling the truth. And tomorrow, the Conservative MP Nigel Evans will table two Parliamentary Questions to find out what's been going on.

The questions, drafts of which have been seen by this column, will require Jowell to confirm that the comments she made to Parliament were accurate.

Presuming that she replies in the affirmative, MPs can draw two explanations. Either Caborn lied to The Sunday Telegraph; or he told truth, but Jowell was ignorant of what he was up to. Either way, it won't look good.