Sir Alastair Morton, the former boss of Eurotunnel, and the present chairman, Patrick Ponsolle, have been placed under judicial investigation by a French judge for allegedly rigging the 1994 reflotation of the floundering Channel tunnel company. Sir Alastair Morton, the former boss of Eurotunnel, and the present chairman, Patrick Ponsolle, have been placed under judicial investigation by a French judge for allegedly rigging the 1994 reflotation of the floundering Channel tunnel company.
Four other Eurotunnel officials or former officials, including another Briton, Graham Corbett, and André Bérnard, another former chairman, have also been placed under formal investigation – one step short of a charge under French law.Sir Alastair, who is currently the chairman of the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority, was co-chairman of Eurotunnel. He and the five others are accused of issuing false financial information, at the time of the £700m reflotation which rescued the company in June 1994. They are also accused of misuse of company funds by paying themselves inflated salaries.Four bank officials, including one from Credit Lyonnais and one from Indosuez, have also been placed under investigation.The legal action – revealed in today’s edition off the investigative French newspaper, Le Canard Enchainé and confirmed by Eurotunnel – follow a three-year investigation by an examining magistrate. The inquiry began in 1997 following a complaint by an association of small French Eurotunnel shareholders who protested that they were deliberately given an inaccurate picture of the company’s prospects.Having once stood at FFr130 (£1.30), Eurotunnel shares were re-issued at FFr22.50 in June 1994 before plunging below FFr5 in 1996. Tens of thousands of small shareholders – some of whom lost their life savings – claimed that they were tricked into investing, or re-investing, by the falsely positive picture given of the company.Eurotunnel shares fell back slightly to FFr7.35 on the Paris bourse when news leaked of the legal action yesterday.A Eurotunnel spokesman said Mr Ponsolle had “not yet received a letter informing him that he had been placed under investigation”. The spokesman said that Mr Ponsolle was “serene” about the affair and had no intention of resigning.Christian Cambier, of the small shareholders’ association, saluted “a first victory against the banks”.

The legal action against the Eurotunnel and bank executives follows an investigation by two financial consultants, André Dana and Michel Levasseur, commissioned by investigating magistrates. In their report, Mr Dana and Mr Levasseur allege, among other things, that three banks, which were helping Eurotunnel with the flotation, Crédit Lyonnais, Indosuez, and the Swiss bank SBS, were guilty, in effect, of insider trading. Indosuez Asset Management sold 2.2 million shares and three million options just before the new issue was announced, sending the share price into free fall. Three other banks, including NatWest and Morgan Grenfell, were cleared of any wrong doing.. Labour looked certain to take up important posts in Ken Livingstone’s new administration last night after the Mayor of London revised his hardline opposition to part-privatisation of the Tube. Labour looked certain to take up important posts in Ken Livingstone’s new administration last night after the Mayor of London revised his hardline opposition to part-privatisation of the Tube.
The party’s decision to work with Mr Livingstone came after he agreed to call in a panel of independent experts to assess the Government’s plans for the London Underground.Nicky Gavron, a leading Labour member of the Greater London Assembly, is likely to announce today that she will become deputy mayor. Lord Harris of Haringey, who was yesterday elected leader of the Labour group and led the tough negotiations with the Mayor, isexpected to chair the Metropolitan Police Authority.The breakthrough came after a day of intense negotiations between Ms Gavron, Lord Harris and Mr Livingstone at the GLA’s headquarters in Westminster.The Mayor issued a statement late last night making clear that he would agree to demands to bring in an independent panel to assess John Prescott’s public-private partnership (PPP) for the Tube.”The Mayor has decided to set up an independent panel of experts to scrutinise the various proposals for financing the modernisation of the Underground including bonds, government grants and the PPP,” the statement said.

“Following the publication of the panel’s report, the Mayor will, in consultation with the Assembly, determine how to proceed.”The panel will base its judgement on the five principles set out in the Labour manifesto that the option must leave the Tube publicly owned, be completed quickly and on time, be certified by the Health and Safety Executive, provide long-term security and offer the best deal for Londoners.Labour sources claimed that the Mayor’s decision to agree to the policy of his defeated rival, Frank Dobson, proved that he had softened his stance on the Tube.However, one Livingstone insider pointed out that his own manifesto argued for a scheme that would “modernise the Tube by the cheapest possible method”.The Labour group will announce its final intentions today after a meeting of all its members considers the detail of the Mayor’s written statement.Mr Livingstone’s hand was forced by an announcement by the Labour group earlier in the day that it would not work with him unless he backed down over the PPP. The group said it remained a distinctive body with its own manifesto but was willing to co-operate in the interests of Londoners.Crucially, Labour demanded that as part of any agreement to fill the deputy mayor position, the Mayor should step back from “confrontation” and his threat to take the Government to court over the PPP scheme.. A public inquiry into the train crash at Paddington that killed 31 people last year opened today with horrific eye-witness accounts. A public inquiry into the train crash at Paddington that killed 31 people last year opened today with horrific eye-witness accounts.
The inquiry, likely to last until the end of the year, is expected to result in the recommendation of safety changes for the rail industry. Passengers, rail industry employees and health and safety inspectors are among those who will be called to give evidence.”We owe it to all those who have suffered in any way as a result of this disaster to make sure that its lessons are fully learned and effective recommendations are made for the future safety of all who travel on this country’s railways,” said Lord Douglas Cullen, who is heading the inquiry.The October 5 crash, which also injured 244 people, occurred after the driver of the Thames train jumped a red light 2 miles west of Paddington, bringing his train directly into the path of an incoming high-speed Great Western express.Both train drivers died in the collision, which took place at the height of morning rush hour.A passenger in the Great Western high-speed train described the impact to the inquiry as “between an explosion and thunder”.Behzad Khodawizi, who witnessed the crash said he could remember “seeing bits of train flying through the air, higher than the overhead power cables to a height of 20 to 30 metres.”On Tuesday, the Crown Prosecution Service said it would not be filing any criminal charges in connection with the crash.Another investigation by the Health and Safety Executive, which monitors people’s safety at work, is still ongoing. That agency also has power to bring criminal charges.”Britain should be ashamed of this,” Emily Houch of San Jose, California – who was thrown from the train in the crash – said at a news conference before the hearing began.”You are playing Russian roulette with people’s lives,” said Houch, who broke her back and suffered burns over 40 percent of her body.Immediately after the accident, the government pledged that a sophisticated and expensive train safety system would be installed across the rail network by 2003..

A public inquiry into the Paddington rail crash which claimed 31 lives was opening in London today. A public inquiry into the Paddington rail crash which claimed 31 lives was opening in London today.
Inquiry chairman Lord Cullen said everyone should ensure lessons were fully learned from the crash for the sake of those who had suffered.Those injured in, or bereaved by, the October 1999 accident were attending the inquiry while still angry at yesterday’s Crown Prosecution Service decision not to bring manslaughter prosecutions over the crash.The morning rush-hour accident happened when a Thames turbo train passed through a red light at Ladbroke Grove, two miles outside Paddington station in west London.The Thames train, driven by Michael Hodder, 31, collided almost head-on with a London-bound Great Western high-speed train. Both Mr Hodder and the Great Western driver Brian Cooper, 52, were among those killed.More than 400 people were injured in the accident, which led to rescuers fighting to free passengers from fire-engulfed and crash-damaged carriages.The Health and Safety Executive has already published three interim accident reports. The third of these, which came out in mid-April, said the initial cause of the accident still appeared to be that the Thames train had passed a red signal – signal 109.But it added that the reason the train had passed the red light were likely to be complex and that “any action or omission on the part of the driver was only one such factor in a failure involving many contributory factors”.The HSE said that Mr Hodder, who had joined Thames in February 1999, had only fully qualified as a driver 13 days before the accident and had completed just nine shifts as the driver in charge.But it added that there was no reason to doubt his suitability as a driver at the time of his recruitment.

The HSE report also said the signals on the gantry which carried signal 109 were of an unusual design.In addition, the HSE said that had Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) been fitted at signal 109 the accident was likely to have been preventable.TPWS, which minimises the worst effects of trains going through danger signals, is be installed at key junctions and on trains by mid-2003.The HSE report also said it was “conceivable” that a misaligned track joint could have led to Mr Hodder receiving a false “green signal ahead” indication as he approached signal 109.”Trains have to be safer and if safety recommendations are not implemented they are not worth the paper they are written on,” said Carol Bell, vice-chairman of the Safety on Trains Action Group which was set up after the September 1997 Southall rail crash in which seven people were killed.Lord Cullen, who chaired the inquiry into the Piper Alpha North Sea oil platform disaster in 1988, said today: “We should never lose sight of how it was that this inquiry came to be set up.”We owe it to all those who have suffered in any way as a result of this disaster to make sure that its lessons are fully learnt and effective recommendations are made for the future safety of all who travel on this country’s railways.”The inquiry, which was being held at Central Hall in Westminster, was starting with an opening statement – expected to last about four hours – from Robert Owen, leading counsel to the inquiry.Opening statements will then follow on Thursday from counsel for the other major interested parties, including the Ladbroke Grove Solicitors Group, Railtrack and the two train companies directly involved – Thames and Great Western.The inquiry will begin hearing evidence next Monday. Among witnesses expected to appear will be passengers on the two trains, rail industry employees and health and safety inspectors.This first part of the inquiry is expected to end in July. On September 18, Lord Cullen and Professor John Uff, who chaired the Southall inquiry, will chair a joint inquiry into issues common to both crashes.This will last about four weeks and then Lord Cullen will chair part two of the Paddington inquiry which will consider general matters of rail safety.. Women MPs claimed a small victory yesterday in their battle for the right to breastfeed in the House of Commons chamber and committee rooms. Women MPs claimed a small victory yesterday in their battle for the right to breastfeed in the House of Commons chamber and committee rooms.
Betty Boothroyd, the Speaker, met the minister for Women, Tessa Jowell, the Education minister Margaret Hodge and other female MPs to discuss the issue. Although Ms Boothroyd refused to lift a ban imposed earlier this year, she agreed to think again if women needed to feed babies who were ill or premature.She also said she would like to see more children’s menus in MPs’ restaurants as part of more family-friendly policies.