Oliver Letwin faces investigation after disposing of documents in park bin
Oliver Letwin faces investigation after disposing of documents in park bin Reuters

The cabinet minister, Oliver Letwin, faces a new set of allegations today after it was revealed that papers dumped in a park near Downing Street did contain sensitive material - contrary to the story he described over the weekend.

Pictures in Friday's edition of The Mirror, showed Letwin dumping over 100 documents into a public bin but told journalists that: "None of the documents were classified" and none of the papers had originated from government."

Reports suggest, however this to be inaccurate with information on terrorism, defence and government policy all ending up in the St James Park bin.

What was in the bin?

  • A two-page letter identifying a British firm "barred from bidding" for a contract because it could not renew its Firearms Act Section 5 licence and how the government is considering a temporary licence.
  • The prime minister, David Cameron, the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, and the chancellor, George Osborne, are all said to be mentioned in the papers.
  • Organisations including the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office and the NHS are also listed.

Veteran Conservative politician Lord Tebbit blogged that Mr Letwin had been "reckless". He wrote: "Why do one's office work in the park? And if one has to, why not take the rubbish back to the office and dispose of it in a secure manner?

"I despair at the plain straightforward lack of streetwise thinking."

Letwin said that he chucked the papers away because he was being "weighed down" as he was dictating responses saying he was "very sorry if he had caused any offence."