High Court blocks BBC report on 'cash for honours'

The cash for honours affair took a dramatic new twist last night after the Attorney General secured a High Court injunction banning the BBC from broadcasting a report on the controversy.

The Corporation dropped a report on the 10 O'Clock News after Lord Goldsmith - a member of the Cabinet and the Government's most senior law officer - won a High Court injunction preventing the broadcast at a two-hour hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

The BBC insisted that its report was in the public interest, but a spokesman for the Attorney General said he had acted at the request of police amid fears that releasing information would impede their inquiries.

The Attorney General's spokesman insisted that Lord Goldsmith had acted independently of the Government. He said: "The application for an injunction was made by the Attorney General this afternoon at the specific request, and in co-operation with, the police because of their concerns that disclosure of certain information at this stage would impede their inquiries.

"The Attorney General acted in this respect completely independently of Government and in his independent capacity." The Metropolitan Police issued an identical statement to that made by the Attorney General's office.

A spokeswoman for the BBC said: "The BBC said its report on cash for honours was a legitimate matter of public interest."

Last month the Prime Minister was questioned by police for a second time, but news of the interview was kept secret for almost a week at the request of detectives. The year-long police inquiry appears to have moved on from the initial complaint that honours were sold to whether there was an attempt to cover up evidence relating to the claim.