LONDON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- A cassette containing a spoken letter dictated to British minister David Blunkett raises new questions over big business' role in British politics.
The Observer reported Sunday it discovered a secret tape from a property developer asking for special access to ministers. The newspaper said the tape reveals how Pervaiz Naviede's development company, DNA Bioscience, asked Blunkett for help in lobbying Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and Chancellor Gordon Brown.
The company was hoping to profit from a change in rules governing the renovation of residential property, and wanted local authorities to be "encouraged" to sell them more council flats, the newspaper reported.
The tape reveals Warren Smith, the chairman of Naviede's Manchester-based Legendary Property Company, giving Blunkett a wish-list of government departments to which he wants "introductions," in order to lobby for changes to policy.
The Observer has established that Smith sent the tape to Blunkett in April, and reported that Smith then met Blunkett for a private supper to discuss the issues two days before last May's general election.
A spokeswoman for Naviede confirmed he had met Blunkett on one social occasion but denied he had lobbied him on tax or property issues.
