Lady Archer stands by her man

Lady Archer and her son William in Glasgow

Mary Archer, the wife of jailed peer Lord Archer, has voiced support for her husband in her first public statement since his conviction for perjury.

Lady Archer was speaking before she took part in a conference on solar energy in Glasgow.

She made a brief statement to the media about the work of the summer school, which will look at the latest research on quantum solar energy conversion.

Lady Archer was then asked a question on her own evidence during the trial of Lord Archer.

Lord Archer was jailed for four years

She replied: "I'm here as I said to lead this summer school and I won't be led into discussions about any other matter save to say this - I support my husband wholeheartedly.

"I think I have said what I wish to say."

The two-and-a-half day Strathclyde University summer school is being held at the university's chemistry department.

Listed in conference material as Professor Mary Archer, she is one of six academics who will be giving lectures at the event.

She is a visiting professor at the centre for energy policy at Imperial College in London and has edited a four-book series on solar energy photo-conversion.

Lady Archer said she was fulfilling a long-standing professional engagement to chair a summer school on behalf of the European Society for Quantum Solar Energy Conversion.

I won't be led into discussions about any other matter save to say this - I support my husband wholeheartedly

Lady Archer

"The summer school is held each year in a different, major European university - the choice of location in this case being linked to there being a strong chemistry research base in the university acting as host," she told the media conference.

"Over the next few days, I and five other faculty members will be teaching an advanced course in this specialised area of solar energy conversion to a small group of post-graduate and post doctoral students.

"I would ask you to respect the fact that this is a private academic meeting and I hope that you will allow us to get on with our work."

Lord Archer was jailed last Thursday for four years for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

The Old Bailey jury decided that he had lied and cheated in his 1987 libel case against the Daily Star, which had printed a story claiming he had slept with a prostitute.

Kurd fund allegations

He was convicted of two counts of perjury and two counts of perverting the course of justice, but cleared of one count of perverting the course of justice.

Scotland Yard confirmed on Wednesday it was investigating allegations that millions of pounds have disappeared from a fundraising campaign run by Lord Archer.

This money was said to have gone missing from a fund, called Simple Truth, which was set up by Lord Archer in 1991 to help Kurdish refugees after the Gulf War.

He publicly claimed that £57m was raised for the Kurds, leading to questions this week about what happened to the money.