Andy Burnham falls short of full apology to campaigner

The Culture Secretary, Andy Burnham, has moved to defuse his damaging "smears" row with the civil liberties campaigner Shami Chakrabarti, but stopped short of saying sorry.

In a letter to the Liberty director he insisted that he had not set out to cause offence when he claimed she shared "late-night, hand-wringing, heart-melting phone calls" with David Davis, the former shadow home secretary who resigned to launch a public debate on civil liberties.

On Thursday, Ms Chakrabarti threatened to sue Mr Burnham, demanded a written apology and accused him of debasing his office with the comments, made in an interview with the Labour think-tank magazine Progress.

Mr Burnham sent a letter to Ms Chakrabarti yesterday, saying: "I have been genuinely taken aback at an interpretation placed on my remarks by others that I did not intend."

Ms Chakrabarti replied: "I am grateful for Mr Burnham's letter, which seems to show genuine regret for the distress his remarks caused me and my family. These remarks coincided with a relentless campaign of Westminster gossip that could only distract from serious issues and discourage young women from entering public life."