Posts
Publication
of the Prince Charles 'black spider' letters: live
The Guardian World News|Jamie Grierson
4.13pm BST
An early read of the letters published so far shows Charles wrote to
ministers with concerns on a range of issues including:
Here is a key quote:
The publication of private letters can only inhibit his ability to express the concerns and suggestions which have been put to him in the course of his travels and meetings.
The 27 letters to be published imminently were written by the future monarch or his staff and sent to seven departments under Tony Blair’s government between 2004 and 2005.
He wrote:
I’ve got a lot of time for Charles. I’m not a raving loyalist – Hull was a flashpoint for the Civil War when we supported Cromwell and stopped Charles I getting into the city. But like anyone else, he has a point of view. And as he is the next King it would be wrong to ignore him.
As 27 memos between the Prince of Wales and ministers in the last government are set to be published, Downing Street indicated that legislation might be introduced to guarantee a blanket ministerial veto over publication.
A change in 2011 means that an absolute veto is now in place covering correspondence from the monarch, the heir to the throne and the second in line – currently the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge. The memos by the Prince of Wales are being published because the Guardian submitted a Freedom of Information request before the change in 2011.
Kristina Kyriacou, who used to represent pop-stars Cheryl Cole and Gary Barlow, barely flinched when duty called as her protectee was confronted by the dogged reporter, as my colleague Jessica Elgot reports here.
He explains how the publication has been a triumph - of sorts - for the freedom of information act, but has also exposed some of its weaknesses.
Clearly, a member of the public without access to large funds would not have been able to fight this legal battle. Many may see this as one of the weaknesses of the act.
The strength of the act, however, is that it has allowed the public to see into one of the most secret areas of British life. The prince is reputed to have been sending his so-called “black spider” letters to ministers for many years, but only a tiny number have leaked, and only rarely the whole of the letters.
He had made it his business to acquaint himself with leading members of what was likely to be the governing party. He was a curious mixture of the traditional and the radical (at one level he was quite New Labour, at another, definitely not), and of the princely and insecure. He led a life in which naturally people deferred to him and you wouldn’t describe him as easy-going, certainly not in the way Diana was, but he was also sensitive to criticism and nervous about the public reaction to him.
4.04pm BST
Clarence House has issued a lengthy statement in defence of Prince Charles’s
letters to ministers.Here is a key quote:
The publication of private letters can only inhibit his ability to express the concerns and suggestions which have been put to him in the course of his travels and meetings.
4.02pm BST
The black spider memos are available on the Cabinet Office website here.
3.56pm BST
What do we know about who Prince Charles wrote to?The 27 letters to be published imminently were written by the future monarch or his staff and sent to seven departments under Tony Blair’s government between 2004 and 2005.
3.47pm BST
Former deputy prime minister John Prescott has drawn
attention on Twitter to a column he wrote for the Sunday Mirror last month when
he defended Charles’s letters to ministers.He wrote:
I’ve got a lot of time for Charles. I’m not a raving loyalist – Hull was a flashpoint for the Civil War when we supported Cromwell and stopped Charles I getting into the city. But like anyone else, he has a point of view. And as he is the next King it would be wrong to ignore him.
My Sunday Mirror column on the Prince Charles
letters http://t.co/hK8drTx7Tc
3.41pm BST
The black spider memos are causing at stir within No 10 before they have even
been published.As 27 memos between the Prince of Wales and ministers in the last government are set to be published, Downing Street indicated that legislation might be introduced to guarantee a blanket ministerial veto over publication.
A change in 2011 means that an absolute veto is now in place covering correspondence from the monarch, the heir to the throne and the second in line – currently the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge. The memos by the Prince of Wales are being published because the Guardian submitted a Freedom of Information request before the change in 2011.
3.35pm BST
Channel 4’s Michael Crick fell foul of the wrath of Prince
Charles’s top media advisor earlier when he dared to raise the subject of the
black spider memos.Kristina Kyriacou, who used to represent pop-stars Cheryl Cole and Gary Barlow, barely flinched when duty called as her protectee was confronted by the dogged reporter, as my colleague Jessica Elgot reports here.
3.23pm BST
My colleague Rob Evans, who led the battle to have the black
spider memos published, has written
this account on the 10-year struggle.He explains how the publication has been a triumph - of sorts - for the freedom of information act, but has also exposed some of its weaknesses.
Clearly, a member of the public without access to large funds would not have been able to fight this legal battle. Many may see this as one of the weaknesses of the act.
The strength of the act, however, is that it has allowed the public to see into one of the most secret areas of British life. The prince is reputed to have been sending his so-called “black spider” letters to ministers for many years, but only a tiny number have leaked, and only rarely the whole of the letters.
3.13pm BST
It’s interesting to look back at what Tony Blair had to say
about Charles in his autobiography, A Journey. It contains several telling
observations in the context of the Prince of Wales writing to ministers in
Blair’s government.He had made it his business to acquaint himself with leading members of what was likely to be the governing party. He was a curious mixture of the traditional and the radical (at one level he was quite New Labour, at another, definitely not), and of the princely and insecure. He led a life in which naturally people deferred to him and you wouldn’t describe him as easy-going, certainly not in the way Diana was, but he was also sensitive to criticism and nervous about the public reaction to him.
3.00pm BST
Prince Charles’s secret
correspondence to ministers will finally be published today - and we’ll have
all the revelations and reaction from across the political spectrum and royal
commentariat on this live blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment