That letter

Ben Brogan reports on some audacious buckpassing from Gordon Brown:

Here in the village what's generating more interest is the disappearance of David Davis's letter to Gordon Brown alerting him to the issue. He sent it on Dec 11, but No10 says it has no record of it. Now, the Tories wonder if this isn't an example of the PM's reluctance to answer awkward letters from Tories (especially from David Cameron). Brown Central on the other hand say they are baffled: why didn't DD call to alert them as is usual in serious cases? Or to find out if they had got it? And why didn't he raise the issue with the Speaker for example, or the Home Secretary, or even Mr Khan?

I'm in no position to speak for Mr Davis, but the usual reason why Shadow Ministers don't immediately chase up letters to their opposite numbers is because Ministers routinely take months to answer them. The same goes for Written Parliamentary Questions, which should be answered within a fortnight but which recieve holding answers followed by weeks of further delay.

All part of New Labour's contempt for Parliament.