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(Continued from overleaf)
7 November 1996: Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger writes to Sir Gordon Downey again, promising most of the evidence against Neil Hamilton and other MPs within the week.
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28 November 1996: Guardian solicitor Geraldine Proudler sends Sir Gordon Downey a bundle of draft documents, but no specific complaint against all the MPs as
requested.
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3 December 1996: Sir Gordon Downey replies to Geraldine Proudler and repeats his request for clarification of
The Guardian's complaints.
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12 December 1996: Sir Gordon Downey's Counsel for the Inquiry, Nigel Pleming QC, faxes Guardian solicitor Geraldine Proudler a terse note:
"Please excuse the fax, but I am having a little difficulty speaking to you by telephone.
As you know, the Commissioner is anxious that his investigation into the allegations made by
The Guardian against
Members of Parliament should not be delayed.
Are you able to inform the Commissioner when you will be in a position to provide detailed supported allegations
against all MPs? The Commissioner is aware of your commitments, but an early response would be appreciated.'
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17 December 1996: Geraldine Proudler replies to Nigel Pleming.
Proudler gave an account of previous documents which
The Guardian had submitted, but still did not provide a list of the Guardian's complaints. Proudler promised to write later again that week. She did not do so.
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1997
January 1997: The
Guardian posts onto its website a special report entitled "Corruption in the Commons". This comprised of 108 articles published in
The Guardian and The Observer between 1 Oct. and 13 Dec. '96, following the collapse of Greer's & Hamilton's libel actions on 30 September.
The Special Report carries an introduction on the front page, which ends:
"Over the following eight weeks, the full Hamilton story was revealed in
The Guardian. The coverage won the 1997
British Press Award for best team reporting. This is how the story unfolded."
However, despite this special report telling how "the full Hamilton story was revealed" and that "This is how the story unfolded", the only mention of Fayed's crucial office staff who supposedly processed the bribes is in the unsigned article published on 1 October 1996 entitled "The Witnesses", in which they are not even named, which was based entirely on extracts from their one-page witness statements. Similarly, the only explanation of how these three absolutely crucial witnesses came to be "discovered" at the last minute is given in the article by David Leigh published on 6 October, in which Leigh describes how: "a willing Fayed, as the libel case against
The Guardian neared trial, engaged a lawyer to search his papers and trace witnesses."
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3 January 1997: Sir Gordon Downey writes to The Times to complain about the delay in the proceedings caused by
The Guardian's failure to submit its allegations.
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4 January 1997: Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger writes to Sir Gordon Downey and
The Times and blames the delay to the inquiry on Sir Gordon Downey's misunderstanding of his original letter of 8 October 1996.
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7 January 1997: Sir Gordon Downey replies to Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, rejecting his letter as "disingenuous".
Downey qualified his comments by pointing out that Rusbridger had described his letter of 8 October as being only a 'draft defence', not an official complaint to the Inquiry. In his letter Downey stated:
"Your letter of 8 October was specifically intended to give me 'some idea' of the scope of the inquiry you thought should
be involved… Similarly the material provided on 28 November was described by Geraldine Proudler as 'preliminary'
… we have been badgering Geraldine Proudler since then to provide confirmation of the allegations… All of this was
promised to arrive before Christmas."
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8 January 1997: Counsel for the Inquiry Nigel Pleming QC faxes another request for information to Guardian solicitor Geraldine Proudler.
Pleming states:
"I am unable to reach you by telephone (messages left yesterday and today) and trust that this fax is brought to your
attention… I am anxious to hear from you as to when you will be able to provide the promised information."
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9 January 1997: Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger writes to Sir Gordon Downey to apologise for his letter of 4 January.
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Also on 9 January: Guardian solicitor Geraldine Proudler responds to Nigel Pleming's letter. She agrees to meet him the following day to discuss
The Guardian's complaints.
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15 January 1997: After a three month delay Sir Gordon Downey's inquiry begins when
The Guardian's solicitor, Geraldine Proudler, finally submits the
paper's complaints against Neil Hamilton; Tim Smith; Sir Michael Grylls and other MPs with links to the lobbyist Ian Greer.
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