The former Conservative minister, Jonathan Aitken, yesterday admitted at the Old Bailey he had committed perjury during an unsuccessful High Court libel action. He also pleaded guilty to intending to pervert the course of public justice by drafting a false witness statement for his daughter.
He denied two further charges of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and doing acts tending and intending to pervert the course of public justice. He is to be sentenced later this year.
A millionaire, former journalist and banker, Aitken resigned as chief secretary to the Treasury in 1995 to pursue a libel action against the Guardian newspaper and Granada Television.
Yesterday Aitken (56) pleaded guilty to lying in court that his wife, Lolicia, had paid a 4,257 franc (£511) hotel bill at the Paris Ritz Hotel in 1993. He also admitted he drafted a false witness statement for his daughter, Victoria (18), which backed her father's contention that his family paid for their travel and hotel expenses.
Aitken lost his seat in 1997, his wife divorced him last year and last week he admitted fathering a child 18 years ago with Ms Soraya Khashoggi, former wife of the Saudi arms dealer Mr Adnan Khashoggi.