Much ado about nothing

So was the controversy over Lord Browne worth the wait?

The Mail on Sunday had already lost its major scope with the publicity over the case and the comment in many of the papers seemed to imply that this was simply a witchunt into the "pink boardroom".

The Mail maintained the public interest defence and promising that the original purpose of the story was not to target Browne over his relationships but to give information to the shareholders of BP.

This then appears to be the major revelation from the former boyfriend this morning

"

Oil giant BP threatened to switch its headquarters abroad,
according to the former lover of its disgraced boss Lord Browne - a move that
would have had devastating consequences for tax revenues and employment in the
City of London. "

And that ,according to the paper despite its

"victory in court last week, which meant that allegations of
misuse of BP assets and breaches of confidentiality could be published along
with details of how he had lied to the High Court, the story remains subject to
the injunction.
As a result The Mail on Sunday is unable to report any
details relating to the claims or any related issues between BP and the
Government which Mr Chevalier told us about or even the circumstances of how he
claimed he knew this."

The papers spin on all this is a veiled attack on Gordon Brown's economic management of the country which

"Richard Lambert, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, warned last year that the 'unsustainable' tax burden on business could lead to a flood of multinationals leaving the country. "

But this is hardly a major revelation as is the fact that

"

Lord Browne flouted official company policy by giving his
lover BP laptops that allowed him access to the oil giant's internal computer
network.
Jeff Chevalier claims that during their four-year affair he was
provided with the equipment - and 24-hour back-up by BP's technical support -
for his personal use. "

Finally perhaps the paper is intimating some sort of influence with the Prime Minister.The story of the meal with Blair is interesting

At the time it all seemed too much - too plainly far-fetched
- for Jeff Chevalier to take in. But here he was, a 25-year-old once-penniless
Canadian male prostitute, sitting down to dinner with the Prime Minister of
Great Britain.
And the two men were liberally helping themselves from a
£3,000 bottle of claret.
The wine was the personal choice of Lord Browne of
Madingley - the boss of British Petroleum, Britain's most senior businessman and
host of the dinner party in question.
"Mr Blair didn't know what it was but
he absolutely loved it," Mr Chevalier recalls. "It was a 1983 French
claret."

But hardly warrants the charge of public interest surely?The paper is prevented by court injunction from discussing what was said at the meal,shortly before Blair flew to Singapore to back the London olympic bid.We can thus only speculate.