Poet Laureate blames No 10 for leak

THE NEW Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion, who promised to make the post "more political", did just that on his first day yesterday, blaming the Government for controversially leaking his appointment.

"I think it must have been Downing Street," he said, "though I can't see what's in it for them. Truly, I didn't leak it. We had the announcement all set up for next week."

Speaking from Sydney, where he is attending a festival, Mr Motion said: "I was worried that Downing Street might leak news of the appointment. When I was told I was Poet Laureate and asked not to say anything, I did say, `You can trust me, but can I trust you?'"

Inquiries suggest that the original leak did come from Downing Street. Officials at Number 10 may have been over-enthusiastic to show that in choosing Mr Motion, Mr Blair was not wedded to the idea of a "people's laureate", an accusation of trendiness for its own sake that had angered the Prime Minister.

Newspaper reports of the appointment seem to bear out the accusations of government involvement: nearly all were by lobby correspondents.

Yesterday the shadow Culture minister, Peter Ainsworth, said: "The leak was deeply insulting to the royal palace. It could only have come from Number 10 or the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. I think it is despicable."

Despite the leak, Mr Motion appears to be looking forward to discharging his new duties. He added that he will write a poem to celebrate the wedding this summer of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones.