A ONCE-SENIOR figure in Colchester's Labour Party has spoken of his surprise after his former election agent was caught up in the cash for laws scandal currently engulfing Westminster.

Roddy Ashworth

A ONCE-SENIOR figure in Colchester's Labour Party has spoken of his surprise after his former election agent was caught up in the cash for laws scandal currently engulfing Westminster.

Rod Green, who was leader of Colchester Borough Council's Labour Group for much of the 1980s and 1990s and stood for the parliament on two occasions, said he had always known Peter Truscott - now Lord Truscott - as a “trustworthy and decent” man.

Lord Truscott was himself a Colchester borough councillor from 1988 until 1992, and in 1987 served as Mr Green's election agent when he stood as a prospective MP for the now defunct constituency of North Colchester.

On Sunday Lord Truscott was named in a national newspaper as one of four Labour Peers alleged to have been prepared to influence laws being debated in the Upper Chamber for money.

An investigation into the claims has now been launched, although Lord Truscott has strongly denied any wrongdoing.

He told one newspaper: “To suggest I would put down amendments for money is a lie.”

Mr Green, who lives in Maldon Road and works as a part-time pharmacist, said: “I was extremely surprised when I saw his picture appear on television on Sunday night.

“I really would not think it of him at all. I knew him as a man of good character, trustworthy and decent.

“It was only two or three years ago that I received an invitation to one of his book launches up at the House,” he said.

Mr Green, who was also a member of the board of Colchester's Mercury Theatre for 10 years, added: “We worked very closely together and I have never had any reason to believe he was anything other than an outstanding member of the community.”

Lord Truscott - an expert in Russian history - hit the news in 1991 when he married a Red Army colonel's daughter, Svetlana Chernicova.