The Observer from London, Greater London, England • 7

the Observer SUNDAY 14 MAY Theft of papers hinders probe into Tory front Business Responsibilities was handed over to a PR company run by Tory activists. The company, Marketforce Communications, had five political officers working full-time for two years in Westminster's key electoral wards before the 1990 local elections. The same campaign was the subject of a separate inquiry by the District Auditor, John Magill, who provisionally' concluded that some 21.25 million of public money had been misused to 'gerrymander' the elections and called for 10 councillors and council officers to be surcharged. The fact that Marketforce had been paid by a registered charity, which by law is forbidden to make political donations, was revealed by The Observer in 1991. But after two investigations over 42 months, the commissioners have written to Labour councillor Peter Bradley, who had pressed for the investigation, stating: 'From the interviews we conducted and the evidence we have been able to obtain, we are unable to determine conclusively whether the charity was used.

as a vehicle for making political The letter criticised the charity's trustees for failing to control its staff and for allowing them to hire Marketforce Communications without going to tender or agreeing a written contract. It added: 'Owing to the theft of some documents, it is not possible to say whether the records were The Foundation for Business Responsibilities, was established in 1966 and operated from the same address as the Tory pressure group Aims of Indus try. The two organisations have the same director, Michael Ivens, and the same chairman, Sir Nigel chairman of property company Slough a donor to the Conservative Party and Aims of Industry. The foundation's annual income was for many, years less than 5,000, until it leapt to 20,000 in 1988 and 92,000 in 1989. After being questioned by the Charity Commission in 1991, the Andy McSmith and David Hencke AN INQUIRY into whether Westminster Tories broke the law by using a registered charity as 3 iront for political funds-has' been called off because the Charity Commissioners have insufficient information to reach a conclusion.

They say important documents have been.stolen. The inconclusive end to three-and-a-half years of investigations by the commissioners vcas condemned by Labour politiciansy who are urging tax inspectors to inquire into whether donors avoided tax by declaring political donations as charitable gifts. In a Commons morion, Bob Ainsworth, Labour MP for Coventry North-East, said the commissioners5 'totally inadequate' inquiries had made 'no serious attempt' to find out from donors the purpose for which they expected their money to be used. Donors named include the Porter Foundation (run by the family of the former Westminster Council leader, Dame Shirley Porter), Regalian Properties, Sir Robert MacAlpine Ltd, Wimpey Group Services, London and Paris Property Group and Hammerson Group Management. The commissioners say they cannot find, out whether it was proper that more than 98,000 collected from these sources by a charity called the Foundation for fied'.

Mr Ivens, who was married to a Westminster Tory councillor, resigned from the charity and repaid 98,897 .96. Marketforce Communications, set up in 1987, originally shared the same London address as Aims of Industry. Its founders were David Saunders and Mark McGregor, both former leaders of the Federation of Conservative Students, and Peter Clarke, a Tory candidate in Westminster in 1990. Ian McConnell, director of corporate relations for George Wimpey, said, yesterday he was unable td trace any payment to the foundation. He said: 'We never made any back-door payment.

We donated 40,000 to Waking up to the threat Hotidaymaker George Tregaskis starts the day on the Highlands tram that BR could close. Deerstalker ee MgM at end of the tunnel 'Angered': Shirley Porter. foundation's trustees admitted that some of the payments by Mr Ivehs to Marketforce Communi-: cations 'could not be wholly justi hejvtempts, And then doesn't. "'-'V' says Mr Stevens, gesturing out the window of the buffet car. We're approaching the beautiful Loch Treig from 415 feet above.

Gradually we descend until, five miles on, we are almost level with the bank. Gn we clatter, up to the spectacular Monessie Gorge, where water rushes through an alley of jutting rocks just below rail level. Necks crane. 'It's on a par with the train through Copper Canyon in Mexico or the Calcutta to Darjeeling line in India, says Mr Stevens. Nicola Lever, who lives at Roy Bridge, me third to last stop on the line, points out a stern grey I- Cf nv is iiltliiif The guide to driiflve Tetry Venables Eook-irtggh: tilaftogg travels to ForVWflh may now have aturelPhrais 6ylGary Calton.

the Conservative Parry in Mr Hammerson said: 'We have stopped all charity donations. This' decision would have been taken by Sydney Chapman, our former chairman, who is Regalian Properties declined to comment. London and Paris Group is in liquidation. After Mr Bradley wrote to the the Charity Commissioners in 1991 about the donations' and Marketforce's activities, Dame Shirley said his letter had been 'typically riddled with reliance on innuendo, smear, downright invention and the arrogant assumption that you are entitled to ask any question about my private life. I done nothing wrong and I am not answerable to sleeper; brought 14,500 passengers to Fort William last being mar keted.

Unemployment in the town, population 11,000, is already high, with nearly 4,000 jobs lost in the past 20 years. The knock-on. effect when the sleeper goes could be disastrous. 'We are bound to lose says Mrs Lever, who runs a hostel for climbers and hikers. Struggling back to London by a daytime service to Glasgow, a taxi to the airport, a flight (delayed) to Heathrow, then another taxi, stuck in M4 traffic for more than an hour, you realise how right she is.

The West Highlands are hard to get to if you don't go on the Deerstalker Express. DIVOUKNOW. Vinegar is credited for saving the lives of thousands of soldiers during war? In 400 B. Hippocrates, considered the father of medicine, used vinegar to nntbisrarimtc' Vfoegar was used a healing dressing on wounds and sores in Biblical times? Those of the ancient World combined vinegar with plants for maximum medicinal value? Without vinegar, Hannibal's march, over the Alps to Rome may not have been possible? When vinegar is made from fresb, natural apples, it contains a healthy dose of pecttn. One third of the population uses some form of alternative medicine.

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Act promptly and you will also receive a FREE copy of 'Brain Power 'Foods'. Supplies are limited so you fM(2 must act now. Lisa 'Kelly ITS 6.30am. Colin, the chief steward, squeezes into-the cabin bearing coffee and good news. 'It's a beautiful day.

Look out of your window7 and you'll get a clear new over Rannoch Moor. When the train- left Euston Station the night before dead on 8.25pm we were warned mist and "snow might obscure tbTe morningviews. It seems peculiarly apt that the day dawned brighter than is the -Express', the West Highland sleeper, on its first trip from London to Fort William since the service won a stay of execution from a Scottish judge last week, a fortnight before it was due to be consigned to the sidings of history- Brirish Rail now looks set to go through the full closure procedure it tried to circumvent but no one is complaining: Staff and regular-passengers see the Court of Session's decision that BR acted unlawfully in announcing the closure without public consultation as providing valuable, time to build on the extraordinary on oft ctt Sfvin Maxwell, who wrote: Rmg of Bnght Water. fle esfcjtiHpuander is no Orient Exoress. Instead of nlush upholstered red, you get blue overhead strip-lighting and orange carpets.

There, is no dining car, just your average InterGity buffet with one microwave and an hour's wait for an inedible lasagne. But the staff are friendly and you can drink whisky long into the night. The atmosphere is special, romantic. 'We get liaisons, I can tell Colin says. 'When I knock on the door in the morning, I'm never sure whether I'm going to find both in the bottom bunk or both in the top bunk or what.

I could tell you some iirao JTtt a) Ml ai stone chapel on; the hill above Glen Roy. It belonged to the McDonellsy-the -last-iiigh landers to use bows and arrows in battle, she says. She has been to London to see her sister's new baby. It's her first time on the train, but she plans to take her son down when school's out. 'People have been very upset about the she says, not least because they worry it will lead to a running down of other services on the West Highland line.

'People don't realise how cut off we are up here already. There's only three trains from Fort. William to Glasgow a. day. We couldn't do with less Local businesses would find it hard to manage without the Tf you're tike me, you will be amazed at the multitude of uses for vinegar.

This common household product is packed with goodness. In a new booK, "TheMnegar Book" the author discusses the many uses of different varieties of vinegar in traditional- in particular vinegar's effect in Helping to: Fade headaches away Ease the pain of sore throats Kill infection Soothe coughs Calm nausea Treat burns Soothe aching feet Cool the bum of a sunburn Reduce the itch of welts and hives Remove corns and calluses can used Arthur Price of England Master Cutlers and Silversmiths since 1902 shop just before it is. about to closedown. iviosi i aie omer passengers. on Wednesday night's service were first-timers, too, tempted on board by the fact that the line was threatened.

'There's an irony for says Colin the steward. At this time of year, the sleeper would usually clatter up to Fort William and back and Colin remembers one journey with only one passenger. But because of tie publicity, BR has had to add extra carriages. BR argues that the interest will not last. But supporters such as Richard West, of the Rail Users' Consultative Committee for Eastern England, point to the Settle to Carlisle line.

A devilish spat over pop hymns Richard Brooks Media Editor IT STARTED as an innocent piece of fun, a Radio 4 wheeze to discover the 10 most popular hymns in Britain. By the rime the votes were counted, all 10O00 of them, the air was full of discord. Not even the hymn book is immune from the fierce sentiment more usually associated with weightier matters such as the ordination of women. In top spot, hymn pickers, came 'Dear Lord and Father of Mankind'. With words by John Whi trier and tune by Hubert Parry better known for putting the music to William Blake's poem which became he hymn 'Jerusalem' it notched up twice as many votes as any other entry.

Other golden oldies in the top five included 'Abide with Me', 'Praise My Soul The King of Heaven' and 'Guide Me, Thou Great Redeemer'. And therein lay the problem, according to the Bishop of Chester, the Rt Rev Malcolm Baughen. 'The list is predictable and reflects the views of people who listen to hymns on radio and television, rather than those who support that has welled up for the 101-year-old service. The newly assembled London Friends of the West -Highland Line, which includes half a dozer Lords and a brace of MPs, says the line costs only a tenth as much to subsidise per seat as BR claims and should be viewed as a public service, not a business. Right behind them are journalists such as Paul Johnson, who thundered in London's Evening Standard that the sleeper's future 'concerns not just rolling stock and bunks-and stewards' wages, but fundamental -constitutional issues'.

Its demise, he argued, would be a threat to 'the integrity and viability of the United Kingdom'. There are few things the British like more than fighting to save what the former Times editor Simon Jenkins called 'one of those cornerstones of British life that we never knew we needed until told it is to go'. George Green, a chartered engineer travelling for a week on the Isle of Skye 'before they ruin that too' admitted that he and his wife, Melody, were 'the sort of peoplcwho start to use the village for information on our I a 10 introductory retailers list. Postcode. 1 ol Threatened with six years ago, it now attracts halt a mi? oiuion passengmeartfn0 than eight times more than before the hiss, 'the West Highlander has not got the usage" it could because enough publicity is not given to says Mr West; Tve been saying that for says Colin, who has worked on the sleeper for a decade.

His wife is a stewardess, too, 'Let me and my missus loose and we could make a right do of he says. 'This is the most beautiful line in Europe, let alone Britain. You just need to 'I'd use it says Peter Stevens, a chartered surveyor heading up to Gleneig go to church. That's why there aren't many recent ones on the list, 'he sniffed. Bishop Baughen likes modern hymns.

He writes them himself, but there was only one from the past 30 years on the list, 'Shine Jesus Shine', written by Graham Kendrickinl987. Traditionalists, too, were dissatisfied. The Rt Rev Bill West-wood, Bishop of Peterborough, is no fan of 'Dear Lord and Father of Mankind'. 'It's only there because people choose it for he lamented. 'Congregations tend to go into fits of giggles over the last verse "breathe through the heats of our Nor did the bishop like 'Shine Jesus Shine'.

'Thin on theology and faith. It's really about he said. The public should be happy, including one old lady who told the BBC she had come back from the dead after a visitation by an angel on Easter Sunday. The hymns will be sung in a Radio 4 programme on 28 May. QUEEN OF THE ELEPHANTS TONIGHT AT 10PM Next Sumfay In publish in instdfers' mmm MWmk aborting eve 1 year, the Rugby World Cup '95.

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