Brewery 'leaned on Tory MP to stand down

Conservative party officials tried to broker a deal to persuade a disgraced MP to stand down at the 1997 general election under pressure from a former corporate donor, a court heard yesterday.

Rod Richards, who had been forced to quit as junior Welsh Office minister following allegations of an extra-marital affair which profoundly embarrassed John Major in 1996, was allegedly invited not to stand in his constituency in return for Whitbread writing off an £89,900 debt.

Mr Richards owed around £200,000 to Whitbread and other creditors including Barclays and Lloyds after he borrowed money to refurbish the Ynyscedwyn Arms pub, in Ystradgynlais, near Swansea Valley.

It would have been to the Tories' advantage, with Labour campaigning vigorously on sleaze, to have Mr Richards stand down in one of their safest Welsh seats, Clwyd North West.

The alleged deal was revealed in a witness statement from Sir Anthony Garrett, Tory campaigns manager in 1997, to a high court hearing yesterday where Mr Richards's main creditor, Whitbread, was seeking to have him declared bankrupt.

Mr Richards, who lost his Commons seat in the 1997 Tory wipeout but is now a Welsh assembly member, was fighting to save his political career as bankrupts cannot hold public office.

His counsel, Roxanne Ismail, told the court the suggestion that he stand down came from then party chairman Brian Mawhinney.

"There was a meeting in February 1997, Mr Richards was then an MP, to discuss the indebtedness of Mr Richards to Whitbread. The Conservative party was concerned about adverse publicity.

"Sir Anthony Garrett said that Brian Mawhinney said it had been indicated to him that Whitbread was prepared to write off the debt if Mr Richards agreed not to contest his seat at the next general election."

She added: "This suggests the biggest single creditor had another motive in pressing for bankruptcy."

The bankruptcy petition was brought after Mr Richards defaulted on a voluntary agreement to repay a percentage of his debts over five years.

He failed to make a £7,500 payment last December as he had to fund his defence against a charge of assaulting a young woman, Cassandra Melvin. Mr Richards, 53, was cleared of that charge in June.

The bankruptcy registrar William James yesterday dismissed the petition, saying Mr Richards, although late, had paid the overdue instalment. Making him bankrupt "will certainly destroy his political career and, more importantly, will seriously impair his ability to earn a living".

Mr Richards still faces a bill for half the costs of the hearing and has to pay the interest his creditors lost out on because of his late payment.

He said after the hearing: "The brewery boys have got a bloody nose. How refreshing - how Heineken." He added he had felt "numb and stunned" by the suggestion he stand down.

A Whitbread spokesman denied any approach had been made. "The suggestion that Whitbread would try to influence anyone whether or not to stand for public office is nonsense. Whitbread make no donations to political parties. That was true in 1997."

The company stopped donating to the Conservatives in 1994 in protest at an increase in alcohol duty.

Mr Richards, who resigned as Tory leader in the Welsh assembly to fight the assault charge, plans to resume his political career. But he may still be referred to the party's ethics committee, which has the power to expel him.