Daily Telegraph 13.3.2006

Jowell withdrew from Cabinet talks on Iran because of husband's deals
By Toby Helm, Chief Political Correspondent
(Filed: 13/03/2006)

Tessa Jowell has been left out of all Cabinet discussions on Iran for three years and has received no papers about the country because of her estranged husband's business dealings.

Downing Street confirmed that Miss Jowell had been kept in the dark about all issues relating to the state and its nuclear ambitions, which are one of the Prime Minister's biggest diplomatic concerns.

The highly unusual arrangement was put in place in 2003 after claims that her husband, the international lawyer David Mills, attempted to use her position to smooth a deal under which the Iranian national airline, Mahan Air, would buy planes from British Aerospace.

The deal - which fell foul of a US sales embargo on Iran - eventually collapsed, although it is understood that Mr Mills tried to revive it before being told by ministers that it breached sanctions.

Miss Jowell said at the time that her husband's business interests did not "pose an actual or potential conflict of interest with my position as Culture Secretary".

But after discussions with her senior civil servant, Sue Street, she agreed to restrict her Cabinet role in order to avoid any perception of "cronysim".

Mr Mills is understood to have been paid thousands of pounds for his advice on the failed deal.

Downing Street stressed yesterday that Miss Jowell had not been "barred" by the Prime Minister from Cabinet discussions but had volunteered not to take part.

Her exclusion means she would have been out of the loop on one of the most sensitive issues facing Mr Blair's government.

The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map", is seen by Mr Blair as a threat to global security.

President George W Bush has not ruled out military options on Iran.

As ministers continued to defend Miss Jowell, Alan Johnson, the Trade Secretary, insisted that the restriction placed on her "just shows the integrity Tessa has".

He told BBC1's Sunday AM that she had decided to "absent herself" from Cabinet.

He added: "The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not have too much to do with the Iranian situation, so it has not affected her ministerial capacity."

The Culture Secretary has been fighting to save her Cabinet job in recent weeks as controversy has raged over what she knew about Mr Mills's financial arrangements, including a series of mortgages they signed jointly on their homes.

On Friday, Italian prosecutors asked a judge to put Mr Mills on trial over claims that he received £345,000 from Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, for giving evidence about him in a trial.

Both Mr Mills and Mr Berlusconi deny corruption.

The prosecutors allege that a £408,000 mortgage that Mr Mills and Miss Jowell took out on their London house in 2000 was repaid with the money from Mr Berlusconi, or his immediate circle.

Last weekend, three days after she was cleared by the Prime Minister of breaking the ministerial code by not revealing her husband's interests, the couple decided to separate, saying the allegations about Mr Mills had placed their marriage under intolerable strain.

Her exclusion from key Cabinet talks also demonstrates how Mr Mills's job has for years had a direct bearing on her ministerial role and may have restricted the posts she could have been offered in reshuffles.