DEMAND FOR PM APOLOGY; Brown under fire over 'smeargate'.THE pressure on Gordon Brown to make a personal apology over "smeargate" was increasing today as one of the Conservative MPs mentioned in the emails said the Prime Minister was "at the heart of this scandal". MP for Mid-Bedfordshire, Nadine Dorries Nadine Vanessa Dorries (born 21 May 1957) is a British politician. She is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Mid Bedfordshire. Early life Born Nadine Vanessa Bargery , said today: "I think the Prime Minister has to apologise, I personally want an apology." She also questioned the role of Cabinet Office minister Tom Watson and Derek Draper Derek Draper was a New Labour insider and lobbyist who was at the centre of a scandal about political lobbying known as "Lobbygate", the "Cash for Access" scandal, or "Drapergate". in the affair. Mr Watson issued a statement yesterday in which he denied helping prepare the sleazy and unfounded stories to try to damage senior Tories. His rebuttal rebuttal n. evidence introduced to counter, disprove or contradict the opposition's evidence or a presumption, or responsive legal argument. came after one of Mr Brown's closest aides, Damian McBride, resigned in shame over his role in the scandal - which came to light when emails to fellow spin doctors were leaked. Mr McBride apparently sent them from his Downing Street Downing Street, Westminster, London, England. On the street are the British Foreign Office and, at No. 10, the residence of the first lord of the Treasury, who is usually (although not necessarily) the prime minister of Great Britain. email account in January to Mr Draper, who runs the LabourList website, and also copied in Charlie Whelan, the political director of union Unite and former "spin doctor" to Mr Brown. The mooted stories - all vehemently denied - were intended for publication on an "attack blog". According to a national Sunday newspaper, the ideas included spreading rumours about the mental health of shadow chancellor George Osborne's wife and challenging David Cameron to reveal details of an "embarrassing illness". Ms Dorries claimed Labour figures had offered the stories to national newspapers before planning to publish them online. And she said: "This is a den within Westminster. We're talking about a house in Downing Street, with an office and in that office sits Gordon Brown, Damian McBride and Tom Watson. "We are talking about three people in this marriage at the heart of this scandal." A Downing Street spokesman said that the Prime Minister had no "knowledge of these emails". CAPTION(S): SCANDAL: PM Gordon Brown denies knowing about the e-mails |
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