Blandford fined The Marquess of Blandford was fined pounds 1460 and banned from

Blandford fined The Marquess of Blandford was fined pounds 1,460 and banned from driving for a year after he admitted eight driving offences, including refusing to provide a blood sample. Blandford, 40, told Witney Magistrates' Court he now wanted to become a good citizen of Oxfordshire.. Fruits of love More men than women think of tax savings rather than true love when they marry, according to a new survey. Eleven per cent of men said they had married to reduce their tax bill compared to 8 per cent of women in the NOP poll commissioned by Barclays bank.. Worker cleared of ward sabotage A former maintenance worker at Guy's was cleared yesterday of sabotaging life support systems at the London hospital. Anthony McGrory, 34, from Croydon in south London, had denied switching off machinery controlling the supply of heat, air and water to wards including the paediatric unit after a Christmas party in 1994.The Old Bailey was told that McGrory, a father of three, had acted out of revenge after being made redundant eight months earlier.. But as an association member I was never aware that he was unhappy."There were a number of issues that Derek Shepherd, deputy leader of Bolton council Tory group, believed Mr Thurnham could easily have opposed the Government over and retained party workers' respect..

But he has used the other things to justify his decision," she said "He says he was unhappy with Nolan and Scott. Yet party workers who tramped the streets during three elections since1983 knew nothing of the poll.Their view was that the poll, and his disquiet over the handling of the Nolan report and the Scott inquiry, simply masked his pique at not being interviewed for the safe seat of Westmorland and Lonsdale.Hilary Fairclough, a party member since 1992, has few doubts about Mr Thurnham's motivation "I think it's bitterness It stems from not being chosen for Westmorland. IAN MacKINNON Brandishing his privately commissioned poll of constituents suggesting he stand as an independent, Peter Thurnham advanced its findings as a key element in his decision to resign the party whip. But Tory members in his Bolton North-East constituency who feel "betrayed" by his departure, are equally quick to cite the poll carried out secretly as one of a series of "bizarre" moves by the MP.The poll by Mori among 638 voters showed that 42 per cent said he would be right to resign the whip, 22 per cent that he would be wrong, and 36 per cent had no opinion. He said Sir Richard only opposed "blanket" gagging orders which withheld whole classes of documents from the courts.In a separate letter, Mr Muttukumaru also said Sir Richard backed Labour's demand that the Government publish the names of ministers and officials who saw the Scott report in advance.Yesterday's exchanges took place against the background of a highly-charged political atmosphere in relation to Monday's vote and speculation that an October election had suddenly become more likely in the wake of Peter Thurnham's defection from the Conservative Party..

"You are wrong to attribute that view to Sir Richard," Mr Muttukumaru wrote, demanding the BBC issue a correction. he was relying accurately on the authority as it stood at the time, that the task of judgement ... lay with the courts and not with the ministers."Sir Thomas said he had "the greatest admiration for Sir Richard Scott, who seems to me to have conducted a wonderful and comprehensive inquiry, but I think his view on this question is not one that all judges and practitioners would have shared".Mr Muttukumaru said the BBC had asked Sir Thomas if he agreed with the Scott report that Public Interest Immunity Certificates should "never" be used in criminal cases. But Christopher Muttukumaru, secretary to the Scott inquiry, wrote a blunt letter to the BBC accusing it of misrepresenting Sir Richard's views in its interview with Sir Thomas.Sir Thomas told the BBC: "The Attorney General was doing his best in good faith ... Ironically, in view of his resignation, towards the end of the speech he never got the chance to make, he pleads for unity within the party: "No Prime Minister can do the job if he is constantly having to look over his shoulder.". JOHN RENTOUL Political Correspondent Sir Richard Scott moved yesterday to defend his 1,800-page report on the export of arms to Iraq for the second time in two days, after a more senior judge seemed to disagree with its findings against Sir Nicholas Lyell, the Attorney General.Sir Thomas Bingham, the Master of the Rolls, appeared to hand the Government a propaganda coup by telling the BBC that Sir Nicholas's advice that ministers should sign so-called gagging orders was entirely reasonable.