Staines has removed Campbell's evidence following the order but told the inquiry the move was 'in no way an admission of any kind'
Political blogger Paul Staines has removed a post about Alastair Campbell's Leveson inquiry evidence from his Guido Fawkes blog, along with a link to a full draft of the written submission.
Staines, who publishes the Order-Order blog under the Fawkes pseudonym, was instructed to do so by Lord Leveson yesterday under section 19 of the inquiries act 2005.
Fawkes published the post on Sunday afternoon and claims that he obtained the leaked document legally. He has been summoned to appear before the inquiry on Thursday to answer questions about the leak.
The publication of Campbell's evidence caused debate at the inquiry yesterday, when Jonathan Caplan QC voiced concerns about Leveson's intention to make evidence available on the inquiry site to deprive Staines of "the oxygen of publicity".
Leveson accepted Caplan's argument – that parties mentioned by Campbell would not have a proper right of reply until after the former Labour spin doctor took the stand on Wednesday – in addition to the fact that the document was a draft and not the final version, and decided not to publish it but instead order Staines to remove it.
In a letter to the inquiry, published on his blog, Staines said that he became aware of the order via a tweet by a BBC reporter, and had not actually received it.
"Yesterday afternoon I became aware, via calls from journalists, that an order had been made against me. As I told the journalists and is widely reported this morning, I had not received any such order at that time.
"Last night a tweet by the BBC’s Ross Hawkins directed me to the inquiry website where I found a copy of the order. I also understand there is a notice, which I have yet to receive."
Staines added that his decision to take down Campbell's evidence was in "no way an admission of any kind nor is it an acceptance of jurisdiction".
Leveson's order reads: "No witness statement provided to the inquiry whether voluntarily or under compulsion, nor any exhibit to any such statement, nor any other document provided to the inquiry shall be published or disclosed, whether in whole or in part, outside the confidentiality circle comprising of the chairman, his assessors, the inquiry team, the core participants and their legal representatives prior to the maker of the statement giving oral evidence to the inquiry or the statement being read into evidence, or summarised into evidence by a member of the inquiry team as the case may be without the express permission of the chairman."
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