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| MPs 'fail to trace' aide McBride | MPs 'fail to trace' aide McBride |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Damian McBride, the Downing Street aide forced to quit over e-mails smearing top Tories, has "disappeared without a trace", a senior Labour MP has said. | Damian McBride, the Downing Street aide forced to quit over e-mails smearing top Tories, has "disappeared without a trace", a senior Labour MP has said. |
| Tony Wright said he had wanted Mr McBride to give evidence to the Commons public administration committee. | Tony Wright said he had wanted Mr McBride to give evidence to the Commons public administration committee. |
| He "seems to have disappeared without a trace and despite our best endeavours we haven't been able to trace him", committee chairman Mr Wright said. | |
| The committee is investigating the role of special advisers in UK politics. | |
| Mr Wright said it would continue its efforts to contact Mr McBride. | |
| The former Downing Street adviser has not been seen in public since he was forced to quit over e-mails discussing plans to spread unfounded stories about leading Conservatives. | |
| He was sacked by Prime Minister Gordon Brown without compensation and is reportedly currently unemployed. | |
| 'Infamous e-mail' | |
| Derek Draper, another key figure in the e-mail row, earlier quit as editor of the LabourList blog. | |
| Mr Draper had been discussing plans with Mr McBride to set up a separate gossip website, Red Rag, to counter the perceived dominance of Tory-supporting blogs. | |
| In one leaked e-mail, Mr Draper described Mr McBride's plan to spread unfounded rumours about senior Conservatives as "absolutely totally brilliant". | |
| But in a resignation statement e-mailed to LabourList subscribers, Mr Draper said: "I regret ever receiving the infamous e-mail and I regret my stupid, hasty reply. I should have said straight away that the idea was wrong." | |
| But he said his continued editorship of LabourList "can only detract from what Labourlist needs to do now". He will be replaced by his deputy Alex Smith. | |
| Gordon Brown pledged to tighten up the code of conduct for special advisers - backroom staff employed to give political advice and brief the media - following the smeargate row. | |
| But the public administration committee has launched an investigation into their activities and whether they should continue be funded by the taxpayer rather than the political parties. |