Triple-A Tory perjury club: Aitken, Archer and now Allason

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Spywriter Tory may join Aitken and Archer out in the cold

The smooth-talking spywriter Rupert Allason could face jail after losing court case
By Andy McSmith and Steve Bloomfield
Published: 04 September 2005

Once, he was a feared litigant, famous for winning hundreds of thousands of pounds in a string of libel actions against those who criticised him. But Rupert Allason, the smooth-talking ex-Tory MP and bestselling spywriter who writes under the pseudonym Nigel West, has fallen a long way since then and these days the courts are less accommodating.

Things hit a new low last week when a judge declared he could soon be following in the footsteps of those other scandal-hit Tories, Jeffrey Archer and Jonathan Aitken, on the path that leads directly to jail. A court has imposed a six-month suspended sentence on Mr Allason and given him 42 days to comply with an order to produce details of his wealth.

The ruling is the latest in a four-year legal battle, notable for one of the most scathing verdicts delivered in court against a public figure. In October 2001, Mr Justice Laddie described Mr Allason as "one of the most dishonest witnesses I have ever seen". He added: "I have come to the clearest possible conclusion that Mr Allason has told me untruth after untruth in pursuit of this claim."

Mr Allason had sued the publishers Random House for damages over the disputed authorship of and copyright to The Enigma Spy, which was published under the name of John Cairncross, the alleged "fifth man" in the Cambridge spy ring.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article310187.ece

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1. "Conniving little shit" sued the Beeb and lost.

And something else he lost:

"Mr Allason was elected as the Conservative member for Torbay in 1987 but when he lost his seat in 1997 he was the architect of his own downfall. Two weeks before polling day, Mr Allason and a friend ate at the Thatched Tavern restaurant in Torbay. His failure to leave a tip caused the restaurant's waitresses - and their husbands - to switch their vote from Conservative to Liberal Democrat. In all, the waitresses estimated, the lack of a tip may have cost him 14 votes. He lost by 12. "

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Ah, how sweet karma is!

Mr Allason was elected as the Conservative member for Torbay in 1987 but when he lost his seat in 1997 he was the architect of his own downfall. Two weeks before polling day, Mr Allason and a friend ate at the Thatched Tavern restaurant in Torbay. His failure to leave a tip caused the restaurant's waitresses - and their husbands - to switch their vote from Conservative to Liberal Democrat. In all, the waitresses estimated, the lack of a tip may have cost him 14 votes. He lost by 12.

[moggie]

3. Par for the course

"Since winning the case, Random has spent four years trying in vain to collect the damages awarded". And Aitken still hasn't paid what he owes the Guardian after losing his case. Tories believe the law only applies to other people.

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4. Aitken's ex-wife Lolicia claimed the alleged main matrimonial

asset - their Lord North Street house - in a divorce scam that ran parallel with the perjury hearings.

last thing I read aout her was that she was being investigated by Interpol for alleged fraud and embezzlement charges regarding the transfer of other matrimonial assets before the dicorce which Aitken had claimed ownership of, but which were mere loans of his former Saudi business partner Kamel Adham - the former Saudi head of Secret Police and top spook during the Fahd years, and erstwhile director/shareholder of collapsed Asian megabank BCCI.