Brown e-mail apology 'not needed'

1 ANSWERS

1. Amit bang
   

   Gordon Brown does not have to say sorry for e-mails sent by his adviser that discussed smearing senior Tories, Health Secretary Alan Johnson has said.
   
   "Gordon Brown had nothing to do with this. You apologise for the things you are responsible for," he told the BBC.
   
   Mr Johnson said he felt "some shame" the tactics had been linked to his party, but said the person involved had resigned and the issue was now closed.
   
   Tory leader David Cameron has demanded an apology from the prime minister.
   
   Damian McBride quit as a No 10 special adviser after his e-mails containing unfounded claims about Tory leader David Cameron and shadow chancellor George Osborne became known.
   
   Gossip
   
   The e-mails were originally sent in January to former government spin doctor Derek Draper, who runs the LabourList blog and was proposing to set up Red Rag, a new gossip-led site.
   
   However, they came to the attention of Paul Staines, author of the "anti-politics" Guido Fawkes blog, who revealed their existence.
   
   Since the revelations emerged Mr Brown has come under pressure from the Conservatives to launch an investigation and issue a public apology.
   
   The stables do need to be cleaned out and it goes beyond the two particular oiks we are obsessed with at the moment
   
   But the health secretary told the BBC that as Mr McBride - who took care of strategy and planning at No 10 - had gone immediately after the affair came to light, it was now time to draw a line under the issue.
   
   He said: "There is no place for this in British politics and Gordon Brown has made that clear.
   
   "You couldn't have been clearer or more forthright and the special adviser involved resigned," he said.
   
   "Gordon is not responsible for every single person who works for him, for what they do in their own time."
   
   Mr Johnson said he acknowledged the e-mails were a more serious matter than the type of gossip usually found in political and media organisations.
   
   But he added that their significance had been blown out of proportion by the media because it was "a bank holiday Monday" with few major stories to focus on.

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