Jo Moore

Jo Moore (born 1963) served as a British special adviser and press officer. She was embroiled in scandal while working as advisor to Stephen Byers, the Transport, Local Government and Regions Secretary.

Career

Moore began working as a press officer for local authorities in London but moved to work for the Labour Party in the early 1980s. She was also active in local politics in Haringey, and by the early 1990s she had become the Labour Party's chief press officer.[1] Moore then served as Chief Press and Broadcasting Officer during the Labour Party's 1997 general election campaign. In 1998 she left her job to work part-time as an Account Director at a leading lobbying company, and was appointed by Stephen Byers, initially part-time, as a Special Adviser, from 17 February 1999.[2]

9/11 email scandal

At 2:55pm BST (9:55am EDT) on 11 September 2001, after both World Trade Center towers had been hit in terrorist attacks, but before either tower had collapsed, Moore sent an email to the press office of her department which read:

It's now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury. Councillors' expenses?[3]

The Department did indeed announce on the following day two changes to the system of Councillors Allowances. Nearly a month later, Moore's email was leaked to the press where it provoked opprobrium about the cynical nature of spin. Moore ultimately made a personal appearance before the cameras to apologise for what she had written.[4]

The leaked email appeared on the day after Byers had announced the placing of Railtrack, the private sector rail infrastructure company, into administration. It was eventually to be replaced by Network Rail, a not-for-profit 'public interest company'. In November the department appointed a new Director of Communications, Martin Sixsmith.[5]

However, on 13 February 2002 the row flared up again when a leak to the press alleged that Moore had made further attempts to "bury" unfavourable railway statistics on the day of a major event.[6] It was backed up by a copy of an email from Martin Sixsmith saying "Princess Margaret is being buried [on Friday]. I will absolutely not allow anything else to be".[7] Both Moore and Sixsmith said the email was a fabrication and Downing Street initially said the e-mail rebuke did not exist but performed a U-turn on the afternoon of 14 February after it emerged that Sixsmith had indeed sent an email in such terms (although the wording was not accurately reported).[8]

Jo Moore resigned on 15 February 2002 after Downing Street called on Transport Secretary Stephen Byers to get the continuing Whitehall spin row "sorted out".[9] It was reported that Martin Sixsmith also resigned and it appeared that this is what Richard Mottram the Permanent Secretary had told the media and that Stephen Byers had wanted, but he had not resigned.[10]

After her resignation Jo Moore retrained to become a teacher in 2003,[11][12] and became a classroom assistant at a north London primary school.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Parris, Matthew; Maguire, Kevin (2004). Great Parliamentary Scandals - Five Centuries of Calumny, Smear and Innuendo. Robson Books. p. 429. ISBN 1 86105 736 9.
  2. ↑ Wintour, Patrick; Harper, Keith (10 October 2001). "A product of Mandelson school of manipulation". London: The Guardian, Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  3. ↑ Sparrow, Andrew (10 October 2001). "Sept 11: 'a good day to bury bad news'". London: Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  4. ↑ "Sorry mess as Jo Moore makes her apology". London: The Daily Telegraph, Telegraph.co.uk. 17 October 2001. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  5. ↑ ""These Unfortunate Events" – report of the House of Commons Select Committee on Public Administration".
  6. ↑ "Transport department denies new bid to bury bad news". London: The Guardian, Guardian.co.uk. 14 February 2002. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  7. ↑ "Transport department denies new bid to bury bad news". London: The Guardian, Guardian.co.uk. 14 February 2002. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  8. ↑ "Transport department denies new bid to bury bad news". London: The Guardian, Guardian.co.uk. 14 February 2002. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  9. ↑ Spin memo row duo quit, BBC News.
  10. ↑ "Sixsmith stands by claim". London: The Guardian, Guardian.co.uk. 26 February 2002. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  11. ↑ Jo Moore starts new career as primary teacher, The Independent
  12. ↑ ShortList magazine, Issue 112 (28 January 2010), page 38
  13. ↑ "Must do better". London: The Guardian, Guardian.co.uk. 18 February 2004. Retrieved 2017-04-26.

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