PCC chief urged to stand down

Wakeham: Enron unions want answers

Former Conservative energy secretary Lord Wakeham is facing calls to stand aside as chairman of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) while his links with collapsed US energy giant Enron are investigated.

Lord Wakeham is expected to face questions from a US Senate committee inquiry over his role as a non-executive director of Enron.

I am sure he (Wakeham) can see the advantage of stepping down voluntarily at this stage while matters are clarified

Nick Harvey, Liberal Democrat culture spokesman

Enron - whose collapse last year was the biggest in corporate history - is facing allegations of false accounting on a massive scale.

Lord Wakeham - a qualified accountant - has been a non-executive director of the company since 1994, reportedly earning £80,000-a-year.

He was a member of the Enron board's audit committee, which was supposed to protect shareholders' interests.

He was also paid additional fees for consultancy work and owned thousands of shares in the company.

'Sensitivity'

US trade unions are reportedly threatening to mount a formal complaint against Lord Wakeham to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

The peer's role has been questioned by the AFL-CIO, the main US trade union organisation, after thousands of its members lost their jobs and pensions in the Enron collapse.

Liberal Democrat culture, media and sport spokesman Nick Harvey said Lord Wakeham should stand aside from the chairmanship of the PCC until the Enron affair is resolved.

"Lord Wakeham must have developed a sensitivity to these issues at the PCC.

"I am sure he can see the advantage of stepping down voluntarily at this stage while matters are clarified," Mr Harvey said.

Lord Wakeham was not available for comment.

Conservative attack

Meanwhile, the opposition has renewed its attack on Labour's links with Enron and, in particular, the company's accountant's Andersen.

Andersen was effectively barred from government work in the wake of the De Lorean car company scandal 20 years ago and Margaret Thatcher started trying to sue the company for around £200m.

The Conservatives say Labour had close links with Andersen in opposition and that when they came into government settled the court case for just £22m.

Downing Street counters that when Attorney General John Morris decided to settle the case on legal advice he was only continuing a process of reviewing the case begun by the Tories.