Lady Archer, the wife of Britain's most high profile prisoner, is considering selling her side of the story of her husband's fall from grace for a six-figure sum.
Lady Archer indicated to a number of newspapers she would consider giving an interview about her 35-year marriage to the novelist for around £250,000 sterling. After her husband's jailing, several tabloids contacted Lady Archer through an intermediary to request interviews. The intermediary later indicated Lady Archer would consider the requests. The question of why she remained loyal to her husband was one of the talking points of the trial.
In addition to an interview the intermediary is understood to have offered photographs of the family at Lord Archer's mother's funeral on Saturday and access to Archer, now serving time in Belmarsh prison, as part of the deal.
Meanwhile, a former Conservative party vice-chairman has asked police and MPs to investigate claims that millions of pounds are allegedly missing from a fund for Kurdish refugees run by Archer. Baroness Nicholson confirmed she was lodging complaints with Scotland Yard, the Serious Fraud Office and the Commons Public Accounts Committee. The probe will centre on the £57 million sterling Archer claimed was collected for Kurds in Iraq by the Simple Truth campaign he set up in 1991.
The Leader of the House of Commons, Mr Robin Cook, said yesterday the House of Lords will be reformed during Archer's jail sentence which will stop him from returning to his seat in Parliament on his release. Mr Cook said the government would not introduce specific legislation to strip Archer of his title or seat, but would press ahead with Lords reform, including a bar on convicted criminals, by the time of his release.