Chris Huhne under new pressure over speeding penalty claims

Reports allege energy secretary pressed witness not to discuss claims against him Energy secretary Chris Huhne was under fresh pressure over claims that he tried to avoid a driving ban as details emerged of a taped phone call during which he allegedly pressed a witness not to discuss the allegations. Last weekend Huhne’s estranged wife Vicky Pryce, from whom he separated last year, claimed that the Liberal Democrat cabinet minister “pressurised people” to take on his penalty points to avoid a driving ban. Huhne strenuously denied the claims. Last night the Sunday Times claimed it had obtained details of a phone call in which Huhne urged a witness to stay silent about the allegations. Huhne was reported as having said: “If I were you … do not talk. I would have thought you would not want to talk.” The paper suggested police were ready to launch inquiries into the allegations. Persuading someone to take penalty points is illegal. Further details of the phone call, which is said to have taken place before the controversy broke last weekend, emerged in the Mail on Sunday . It reports Huhne as warning the person who took the penalty points not to let “the genie” out of the bottle by revealing what happened. According to the paper he said: “There is no evidence for this story unless you give it some legs by saying something. The last thing you want is a half-baked story saying you’ve taken points for me.” Huhne is said to have added: “The story they are trying to stand up is that ‘Cabinet minister persuaded XXX to take points’. The only way they can stand that up is by getting you to talk to them.” At one point during the 13-minute conversation, Huhne insisted there was no truth in the allegation. “There’s no question of it coming out, because it’s simply not true, that’s it.” A week ago Pryce said she was “aware that he pressurised people to take his driving licence penalty points.” Asked whether the energy secretary had asked someone to take his points, she also said: “Yes, he did. But, look, there is such huge pressure on politicians to be everywhere at once, especially early in their career, so that they are visible – huge pressure – and he does drive a bit like a maniac.” The claims from Pryce, who is writing a “tell all” book about their break-up, are understood to relate to events in 2003, when Huhne was an MEP and before he became the Liberal Democrat MP for

Posted by on May 14, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.