Privy Council silver sale plan is dropped

Government plans to auction a historic collection of Privy Council silver have been abandoned, the House of Lords was told yesterday.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey, the Deputy Chief Whip, admitted there had been insufficient public consultation about the proposed sale of the silver-ware, some of it more than 300 years old.

The four lots, valued at more than £100,000, were to have been sold yesterday at the London auctioneer Bonhams and Brooks, but after cross-party protests, Lord McIntosh told peers that the sale was off.

The Treasury is exploring alternatives that might allow the items, including candlesticks, snuffers, trays and meat skewers, to be lent to a museum.

Lord McIntosh said: "I think it is fair to say we didn't consult as widely as we should have. I think we ought to take that lesson and see we have procedures for consultation in the future. The views that there was a risk of [the items] going to private buyers and therefore not being available to the public have been taken seriously."

Lord Ackner, who disclosed that the Middle Temple barristers' college was a potential bidder, welcomed the climb-down but accused the Treasury of having been "pig-headed".

Lord Strathclyde, the shadow Leader of the Lords, welcomed the reversal of "this deplorable decision". He added: "The Treasury cannot really be trusted to look after these assets of great beauty and historic integrity."

Lord McIntosh said the items had last gone on public display in 1957, at an exhibition by London's Victoria & Albert Museum, which had travelled to several countries.