LABOUR RIGS MPs' BACKING FOR TUBE PPP

THE Government is exposed today over rigging an apparent show of support among Labour MPs for its controversial plans for the Tube.

The scam concerns a statement issued last week backing public private partnership (PPP) which contained the names of MPs without their consent. The letter sent out by the party was headed: "Majority of London Labour MPs back Tube investment plans." The subheading read: "Statement signed by 33 London Labour MPs." But the claim was weakened by the fact that 18 of the 33 were either ministers or parliamentary private secretaries, on the government payroll and therefore obliged to back the official line.

And the Evening Standard today was told that a number of the other names had been added without the knowledge or consent of the MPs concerned. John Cruddas, newly-elected MP for Dagenham, confirmed that he was one of those names. He said that he shared the doubts of other MPs, believing that the Government should have continued to negotiate for a compromise on PPP rather than ramming it through. And he went on: "I did not see the statement and I did not sign it. I was not very happy. I am still not very happy."

Clive Soley, the most senior MP on the group, whose name also appears on the statement, said that the first he knew about it was when he was phoned by his local newspaper.

He said that he broadly agreed with the statement's backing for the policy but would rather have been asked and added: "The handling of this has not been of the best."

The operation has echoes of the botched attempt to stop Ken Livingstone from becoming Mayor of London.

And it has left loyal Labour MPs seething.

It also threatens to renew charges of Labour control freakery just as the Government is under fire over its decision to block two critical MPs - Gwyneth Dunwoody and Donald Anderson - from chairing influential Commons committees.

Labour MPs are threatening revolt over that issue.

Tam Dalyell, now father of the House as longest serving MP, said today: "It looks as though they are wanting to avoid awkward chairmen of awkward committees asking awkward questions."

Labour's embarrassment over the PPP blunder was heightened by the fact that Mr Soley was until this week chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party. Mr Crud-das, before becoming an MP, was himself one of Mr Blair's key fixers.

Shadow transport secretary Bernard Jenkin said: "This is just another political fiddle. It is just getting them deeper and deeper into political trouble."

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