PUBLIC STANDARDS - I'm sorry, says Smith over Al Fayed affair

Accountant and former Tory MP Tim Smith has apologised for taking cash from Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed in a letter to the new House of Commons committee on standards and privileges.

But he denied that he ‘persistently and deliberately failed to declare his interest in dealings with ministers and officials over House of Fraser issues’.

Smith accepted that he took up to u20,000 from Al Fayed, following the conclusion of Sir Gordon Downey that his conduct ‘fell well below the standards expected of MPs’.

He asks for his ‘sincere apologies’ to be passed to MPs on the committee.

But in his explanation as to why he failed to register his consultancy with the Harrods boss, Smith said: ‘My problem was that Mr Al Fayed was obsessed with the need for complete secrecy, even to the extent of wanting to pay me only in cash.’

Although he only registered the interest in January 1989, Smith told the committee: ‘I had tried to persuade Al Fayed to regularise the position with a consultancy contract, but he did not respond to this. I was not prepared to continue the arrangement any longer.’

Smith denied that he misled ministers and said he gave a full account of everything to cabinet secretary Robin Butler and then Prime Minister John Major. ‘I accept that the way in which I received payment from Mr Al Fayed fell well below the present standards expected from MPs,’ Smith said. ‘I don’t believe that these are the same standards that existed at the time Mr Al Fayed approached me in 1987.’

Smith, who resigned as Northern Ireland minister in 1994 and stood down as MP for Beaconsfield because of the affair, added: ‘I hope that my actions several years ago will be viewed in the right context. I am very sorry for what occurred.’