New Boy
18th Mar 2001, 21:54
Lobbyist for Tube bidders to be Prescott's election spin doctor
By Jason Nisse And Solomon Hughes
18 March 2001
One of John Prescott's spin doctors for the forthcoming election is working for two consortiums in bids for major transport privatisations, the Independent on Sunday can reveal.
Michael Craven, a former Labour researcher who worked for Mr Prescott in the 1980s, is to join the Labour "War Room" as soon as the election is announced as the "eyes and ears" of the Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the minister in charge of transport.
*Mr Craven is a political lobbyist running his own firm, Lexington Communications, which is working for Nimbus, the consortium bidding for National Air Traffic Control (Nats), and Metronet, which is bidding for the London Underground public-private partnership (PPP).*
As the majority shareholder in Lexington, according to Companies House records, Mr Craven would retain a financial interest in the success of both Nimbus and Metronet while advising Mr Prescott. As soon as the election is over, he will return to Lexington.
Mr Prescott is overseeing both privatisations and has been personally involved in pushing though both deals despite opposition from unions, the Lords, MPs and the London Mayor, Ken Livingstone.
Both deals are at a key stage. With Nats, there are only two bidders left, Nimbus and the Airlines group, backed by BA and Virgin Atlantic.
Mr Prescott's deputy, Lord Macdonald, is expected to announce the preferred bidder before the election, and speculation at Westminster is that the Airlines consortium will win. The final bids went in on Friday and Nimbus is still hoping that it can wrest the initiative away from Airlines.
The Tube PPP battle will continue to rage through the election, with Mr Prescott central to the fight. This weekend he is hoping to strike a deal with Ken Livingstone and London Underground boss, Bob Kiley, to allow the PPP to go ahead.
Metronet, which is backed by Balfour Beatty, the construction firm sacked by Railtrack over the Hatfield crash, is bidding for two of the three contracts on offer in the privatisation – the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria Lines and the Sub-Surface deal, covering Circle, District and Metropolitan lines. If Metronet wins it could be responsible for up to £10bn of investment, much of it public money, going into London Underground.
Michael Craven is an old friend of Mr Prescott and was his researcher in the 1980s before he moved into lobbying. He formed Lexington with backing from Lord Stevenson, chairman of Halifax bank and FT-owner, Pearson. He has been hired by Labour as part of a War Room being put together by Dave Hill, the former director of communications who is now at lobbying firm, Bell Pottinger.
Mr Hill is also involved in the PPP, advising the Underground. Bernard Jenkin, Conservative spokesman on transport, said the appointment was a "clear conflict of interest which seriously compromises John Prescott's impartiality with regards to the bids for Nats and the Tube PPP. I will be writing to to the Cabinet Secretary asking him to investigate the matter and decide whether he can continue to receive papers and advice concerning these bids."
A spokesman for Mr Prescott admitted that Mr Craven would be working for him during the election but denied there was any conflict of interest: "Mike Craven is going to Millbank as a volunteer. He is one of a number of people from lobbying companies who are offering advice to political parties for this election. He will not be working in departmental issues, he will not be working on policy issues and he is not being paid. John Prescott will not be influenced one way or another by Mike Craven being there."
This is not the first time Labour has come unstuck due to its relationship with lobbyists. Two years ago it was caught in the "cash for access" scandal when lobbyists told undercover reporters they could secure audiences with ministers for fees.
http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/eek.gif :mad:
By Jason Nisse And Solomon Hughes
18 March 2001
One of John Prescott's spin doctors for the forthcoming election is working for two consortiums in bids for major transport privatisations, the Independent on Sunday can reveal.
Michael Craven, a former Labour researcher who worked for Mr Prescott in the 1980s, is to join the Labour "War Room" as soon as the election is announced as the "eyes and ears" of the Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the minister in charge of transport.
*Mr Craven is a political lobbyist running his own firm, Lexington Communications, which is working for Nimbus, the consortium bidding for National Air Traffic Control (Nats), and Metronet, which is bidding for the London Underground public-private partnership (PPP).*
As the majority shareholder in Lexington, according to Companies House records, Mr Craven would retain a financial interest in the success of both Nimbus and Metronet while advising Mr Prescott. As soon as the election is over, he will return to Lexington.
Mr Prescott is overseeing both privatisations and has been personally involved in pushing though both deals despite opposition from unions, the Lords, MPs and the London Mayor, Ken Livingstone.
Both deals are at a key stage. With Nats, there are only two bidders left, Nimbus and the Airlines group, backed by BA and Virgin Atlantic.
Mr Prescott's deputy, Lord Macdonald, is expected to announce the preferred bidder before the election, and speculation at Westminster is that the Airlines consortium will win. The final bids went in on Friday and Nimbus is still hoping that it can wrest the initiative away from Airlines.
The Tube PPP battle will continue to rage through the election, with Mr Prescott central to the fight. This weekend he is hoping to strike a deal with Ken Livingstone and London Underground boss, Bob Kiley, to allow the PPP to go ahead.
Metronet, which is backed by Balfour Beatty, the construction firm sacked by Railtrack over the Hatfield crash, is bidding for two of the three contracts on offer in the privatisation – the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria Lines and the Sub-Surface deal, covering Circle, District and Metropolitan lines. If Metronet wins it could be responsible for up to £10bn of investment, much of it public money, going into London Underground.
Michael Craven is an old friend of Mr Prescott and was his researcher in the 1980s before he moved into lobbying. He formed Lexington with backing from Lord Stevenson, chairman of Halifax bank and FT-owner, Pearson. He has been hired by Labour as part of a War Room being put together by Dave Hill, the former director of communications who is now at lobbying firm, Bell Pottinger.
Mr Hill is also involved in the PPP, advising the Underground. Bernard Jenkin, Conservative spokesman on transport, said the appointment was a "clear conflict of interest which seriously compromises John Prescott's impartiality with regards to the bids for Nats and the Tube PPP. I will be writing to to the Cabinet Secretary asking him to investigate the matter and decide whether he can continue to receive papers and advice concerning these bids."
A spokesman for Mr Prescott admitted that Mr Craven would be working for him during the election but denied there was any conflict of interest: "Mike Craven is going to Millbank as a volunteer. He is one of a number of people from lobbying companies who are offering advice to political parties for this election. He will not be working in departmental issues, he will not be working on policy issues and he is not being paid. John Prescott will not be influenced one way or another by Mike Craven being there."
This is not the first time Labour has come unstuck due to its relationship with lobbyists. Two years ago it was caught in the "cash for access" scandal when lobbyists told undercover reporters they could secure audiences with ministers for fees.
http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/eek.gif :mad: