Lynton Crosby, the PM and me

Fair play to Labour.

With help from a compliant media, they've managed to keep the non-story of Lynton Crosby and plain packaging in the media spotlight for almost two weeks, which is some feat.

Even the birth of a royal baby, third in line to the throne, has derailed it. Not completely.

Yesterday Crosby issued a statement that should put the matter to bed once and for all.

Observers were immediately struck by the clarity of the statement and those of David Cameron on the same issue.

Where the PM tended to fudge his response, preferring to say he hadn't been lobbied by Crosby, Crosby declared unequivocally:

"What the PM said should be enough for any ordinary person, but to avoid any doubt or speculation let me be clear.

"At no time have I had any conversation or discussion with or lobbied the prime minister, or indeed the health secretary or the health minister, on plain packaging or tobacco issues.

"Indeed, any claim that I have sought to improperly use my position as part-time campaign adviser to the Conservative Party is simply false."

Goodness knows why it took so long for this statement to appear and some might ask why the PM couldn't have said the same thing a week ago.

It's not that simple. As a member of his staff said yesterday, the PM meets hundreds of people and he would be superhuman if he remembered everything every single person said to him.

Without wishing to compare myself to the PM, I can cite a very recent example in which I too hedged my response ever so slightly.

On Friday, as I reported here, I was asked by the Sunday Times whether:

... the publicist/lobbyist Lynton Crosby or any of his companies (Crosby Textor - "CT Group" or Crosby Textor Fulbrook - "CTF Partners") or staff have a link with or worked for your organisation?

My knee jerk reaction was an immediate "No" but after thinking about it for a moment this was my actual response:

I have no idea who works for him but to the best of my knowledge neither Lynton Crosby or any of his companies or staff have a link with or have worked for Forest.

The reason I added "to the best of my knowledge" was because while I am 99.9 per cent certain there is no link between Crosby, his companies and Forest, there is I suppose the faintest possibility that someone who has worked for a company that has worked with Forest (a PR or design agency, for example) may have worked for one of Crosby's companies.

It's highly unlikely but I couldn't be 100 per cent certain so it was best, I thought, to add that rider in case the Sunday Times had information I was unaware of, in which case I risked being portrayed as ill-informed or, worse, a liar.

Cameron, I'm sure, would have been thinking along similar lines. He knew he hadn't been lobbied on the issue but he couldn't be 100 per cent certain that the words 'plain packaging' had never been mentioned, perhaps in passing, in the presence of Lynton Crosby.

If someone were to come forward and say otherwise (no-one has, by the way) the PM would be accused of lying. So he chose his words very carefully, and that in turn prolonged the story.

PS. What if ... I were to sidle up to Cameron at the Conservative conference in September, shake his hand and congratulate him on the Government's decision not to introduce plain packaging, adding that there is no evidence to suggest that it will reduce youth smoking rates. Will that be considered lobbying?

What if ... a picture were to emerge of me shaking hands with the PM – who will no doubt shake hundreds of hands that week alone – and questions are asked. (For example, "Prime Minister, when you met the director of the smokers' group Forest at the Conservative conference last week, did you discuss plain packaging of tobacco?"). How should the PM reply?

In all probability he won't remember me, the moment, or what was said, but he can't be certain that our brief encounter wasn't caught on tape or a mobile phone.

If you're the PM it really is a minefield out there.