Key civil servant criticises Howard

The bitter feud between Michael Howard and Ann Widdecombe took another twist yesterday over the former Home Secretary's seeming public reticence on television to stand by a statement he made to Parliament.

On BBC 2's Newsnight, Mr Howard was pressed repeatedly by Jeremy Paxman on whether he had threatened to instruct Mr Lewis to suspend John Marriott, the governor of Parkhurst prison. Despite being asked the same question 14 times, the former Home Secretary refused to answer.

Ms Widdecombe said yesterday: "On Newsnight Mr Howard refused repeatedly to deny he had threatened to instruct Mr Lewis in respect of the fate of the governor of Parkhurst. On October 19 l995, Michael Howard made that specific denial to the House of Commons. Why was he so shy of doing that on Newsnight?

"Any MP seriously considering voting for Michael Howard as leader should watch the tape of Newsnight and set that side by side with the Hansard for October 19, l995, and should compare the two before casting his or her vote".

Last night Mr Howard's position was further weakened by comments made by Brian Landers, who was finance director of the Prison Service at the time of Mr Lewis's sacking: "Knowing the three people concerned, I know whose words I trust. Ms Widdecombe took the time to understand the real problems in a way Michael Howard did not. his style was adversarial. " he said.

In a statement, Mr Howard yesterday denied misleading MPs."I would like to repeat once more that there is no truth in any allegation that I misled the House of Commons. Had I done so, it would have been the duty of the Home office officials to point that out so I could correct any inaccuracies. They did not for the simple reason that everything I said was true".

Last night Ms Widdecombe received further backing from her predecessor at the Home Office, Sir Peter Lloyd, who criticised the actions of the former Home Secretary in sacking Derek Lewis.