Kate Adie solicitor urges shake-up in 'unaccountable' government briefings

Defamation: lawyer defends reporter in row over alleged leak of prime minister travel plans

Press briefings given by government spin-doctors need to be brought out of the shadows and critically examined for defamation, according to the lawyer acting for BBC news reporter Kate Adie in her row with Downing Street over alleged on-air leaks of the prime minister's travel movements.Mark Stephens, media law specialist and a partner at London-based Finers Stephens Innocent, said government spokespeople who briefed lobby journalists were 'unaccountable' and the process needed to be looked at closely, 'either in a court case brought by Kate Adie, or another later incident'.The dispute began when the Prime Minister's director of communications Alastair Campbell wrote to the BBC complaining that the corporation's chief foreign correspondent, Ms Adie, had endangered the Prime Minister's safety by broadcasting details of his travel plans on Tuesday's 'BBC Breakfast Show'.

At the lobby briefing that day, the prime minister's official spokesman, Tom Kelly, accused Ms Adie of a 'clear breach' of security protocols by broadcasting the itinerary.

Mr Stephens said: 'The information about the prime minister's itinerary had already been broadcast by the BBC in earlier bulletins that morning and was thus in the public domain, for which the BBC has apologised.

By bringing up the issue at the briefing, the spokesman not only wrongly accused Ms Adie of leaking the story, but also exacerbated the problem by bringing it to the attention of the assembled press, who then all individually reported it.'Mr Stephens, who was instructed by Ms Adie on the evening of the accusations, said he was looking for a retraction and an apology from the government, and if none were forthcoming then 'when the current situation has died down, nothing has been ruled out in terms of future legal action.'Commentators have suggested that the details of the alleged breach were told to the press to detract attention from the same day's revelation of spindoctor Jo Moore's comment that 11 September was 'a good day to bury news'.

Mr Stephens said: 'If that is the case, then it is outrageous.

Kate Adie was simply reporting facts accurately in very difficult circumstances, but unfortunately the truth tends to be a casualty of government spin.'Victoria MacCallum