Jonathan Djanogly
Hunts MP ‘hired private eyes over expenses leaks’ report
Friday, September 10, 2010
9:49 AM
PRIVATE investigators tricked senior figures in the Huntingdon Constituency Conservative Association into indiscreet comments about their MP, Jonathan Djanogly, according to a national newspaper.
PRIVATE investigators tricked senior figures in the Huntingdon Constituency Conservative Association into indiscreet comments about their MP, Jonathan Djanogly, according to a national newspaper.
The Daily Telegraph claims the MP, who is now Justice Minister, hired private investigators more than a year ago in a bid to discover the source of leaks about his expenses claims.
Among those approached by investigators claiming to be researching a newspaper article were the party’s then agent, Sir Peter Brown, who also acted for Mr Djanogly’s predecessor in the seat, former Prime Minister Sir John Major, and Derek Holley, former leader of Huntingdonshire District Council, who stood down in December 2006.
The investigation took place at a time when emotion in the local party was running high. Many die-hard Tories believed Mr Djanogly should stand down immediately – he was nonetheless re-elected in May this year with a majority comparable to that he achieved in 2005 – and others strongly backing him and his record.
In a statement Mr Djanogly said: “Following a series of malicious allegations made against me in newspapers last year, I felt I had to act to find out who was spreading these untrue stories.
“I instructed a firm of private investigators to try to find out the source of these stories because I was extremely upset that my private family life had been invaded.
“A report of their investigation was prepared and sent to me on a confidential basis and I am very disappointed to see the report released publicly without my consent.
“I would never have contemplated condoning anything unlawful and dishonest in the investigations, and the investigators have assured me that their inquiries were carried out in an entirely lawful manner,” he added.
“I am sorry if some people judge that I made a mistake, with hindsight I can see that I may have over-reacted, but I was being subjected to very malicious, anonymous attacks on my family.
“I paid for the cost of the investigation myself and did not claim it back on parliamentary expenses.”
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15 comments
I see this weeks hard copy contains the usual evasive press about the incumbent MP. Strangely there are no letters from the public....I wonder why.....Maybe the Public should start looking elsewhere for local "news" rather than a crib sheet used for propaganda by the tory cabal
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citizen smith
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Not long to wait now for this week's hard copy of the Hunts Post. What will the Editor comment about the great escapologist Jonathan 'Houdini' Djanogly? Maybe a dynamic report from Ian MacKellar about the issue. Don't hold your breath folks. Hunts Post ' Price 75p where sold (£3 by post). Free for wrapping waste food, covering floors for decorating or good for paper mache modelling.
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verntern
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Masquerading as Journalists! How disgraceful! But not from the Hunts Post, I assume. What with all the advertorials, the classified ads, there isn't enough space for a hard hitting story about Djanogli.
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Ballygally
Monday, September 13, 2010
I see (from another news source, naturally) that Mr Djangoly and his Party and Local Association have agreed to sweep things under the carpet for, so to speak, the sake of the children. So, Hunts Post - your "Move along - nothing to see here" policy has been thoroughly vindicated.
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Albert Hall
Monday, September 13, 2010
Did Mr Djanogly not know that the private detectives were going to pass themselves off as journalists to extract privately held views about him? If they(the detectives) had told people that they were private detectives would the people they contacted have given the same views about him?.
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Upset Tory
Monday, September 13, 2010
I notice that further details emerged over the weekend, that Djangoly is supposed to have threatened people with legal action if they discussed his expenses. I hate to labour the point made by other correspondants - but why is the Hunts Post silent?
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Albert Hall
Monday, September 13, 2010
Time for the Conservative cabal to end in Huntingdonshire, they obviously do not trust each other by the incumbent MP having to employ Private Detectives to investigate close aides and the local association. The incumbent must be a very insecure and frightened individual to feel the need to employ an Investigating company at all. I guess the people of Huntingdonshire need to ask themselves 1) is this millionaire worthy of being MP for Huntingdonshire and what are his motives to be in this position & 2) Why has this not been reported before in Local press, rather than the nationals, or is indeed this newspaper part if the Conservative Cabal? Goodbye Mr Djanogly
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citizen smith
Monday, September 13, 2010
Serious readers of the Hunts Post will look forward to editorial comment about this issue. All local concerns are affected unless we have a trustworthy Member of Parliament who represents, concentrates and fights for progress in our area. We appear to have an MP who is paranoid about defending his mistakes, a Conservative group nervous about criticising him and a newspaper editor restricted by advertising revenue that he has to use old copy from national newspapers to justify 'news'.
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verntern
Saturday, September 11, 2010
So Big Brother is watching you, employed by your MP! And if you might be inclined to voice, or write, an opinion.....watch out! A solicitor's letter may land on your doormat, threatening legal action to muzzle your comment. Is this man really fit to be an MP?
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Ballygally
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Absolutely, you have to wonder why a media outlet that has a national headline-grabbing story on its very doorstep does so little on it. A cynical man might think this small town paper is too afraid of the big man in Westminster to reveal his many many flaws...
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J Nazareth
Friday, September 10, 2010
Perhaps if there was a decent local press, local politics wouldn't be such a sea of complacency. Couldn't we have been told even our MPs friends apparently think he's "lazy", "dishonest" and "a disaster"?
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Albert Hall
Friday, September 10, 2010
Perhaps if there was a decent local press, local politics wouldn't be such a sea of complacency. Couldn't we have been told even our MPs friends apparently think he's "lazy", "dishonest" and "a disaster"
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Albert Hall
Friday, September 10, 2010
Spot on Mr Hall. I remember, many years ago granted, when the Hunts Post was the newspaper of record for the town and surrounding area. Alas this is no longer the case. This website does no justice to the people and locality it attempts to serve.
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J Nazareth
Friday, September 10, 2010
I agree it's disappointing that when a national news story breaks locally that the local paper is almost the last place to look. But then the Hunts Post is really just a collection of classified adverts interspersed between identical reports of crashes on the A14.
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Albert Hall
Friday, September 10, 2010
The latest allegations suggest that Mr Djanogly is neither a trustworthy Justice Minister nor has any integrity left as our MP. The Hunts Post Editor regularly defends this slippery individual. Maybe the Editor should learn from experienced journalists in national newspapers and make a name for himself by getting the news first.
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verntern
Friday, September 10, 2010