Blairs will do 'whatever it takes' to defend privacy
By David Millward, Nigel Bunyan and Andrew Sparrow
 

TONY BLAIR vowed yesterday to do "whatever it takes" to protect the "legitimate privacy" of his family and prevent intrusion into the lives of his children.

 He issued a statement as the family's lawyers prepare to go to the High Court today to confirm an injunction on Mrs Blair's behalf, preventing Associated Newspapers (Mail on Sunday), the family's former nanny and a literary agent publishing details of her life in their household.

 Ros Mark, 30, who worked as the Blairs' nanny from 1994 to 1998, yesterday denied any knowledge of how her book had fallen into the hands of the newspaper. Defending the decision to take out an injunction, Mr Blair said: 'I'm not just the Prime Minister, but also a father and husband. Cherie and I are absolutely determined, no matter how unusual our own lives may be because of the nature of my job, that our children have as normal an upbringing as possible.".

 The Blairs have three children, Euan, Nicky and Kathryn, and Mrs Blair is expecting their fourth in May. The decision to use the courts was condemned as draconian by the Mail on Sunday, which carried details of life with the Blairs drawn from the reminiscences of Miss Mark.

 The paper, which defended its decision to publish material based on Miss Mark's 451-page draft book, was forced to stop the presses after Mrs Blair obtained the injunction from Mr Justice Jackson shortly before 2am yesterday. By then 1.5 million copies had been printed. The court action led to delays in distribution of the Mail on Sunday in London and southern England.

 The paper, which argued that the revelations carried in a two-page spread were of legitimate public interest, said yesterday it intended to "pursue this matter vigorously through the courts". The injunction, enforcing a confidentiality agreement signed by Miss Mark, does not apply in Scotland. But Downing Street made clear that the Blairs would act if any papers tried to publish material covered by the ban. 

How the manuscript that formed the basis of the disclosures fell into the paper's hands remained unclear last night. Miss Mark said in a statement she felt "totally violated" by the publication of details covering the years she spent with the Blairs. She said: "I wish to make clear once more that I did not give to the Mail on Sunday the manuscript from which they have taken material about my time with the Blairs. Nor have I ever asked for or received any money."

 Jonathan Harris, who had been negotiating on her behalf, also denied involvement, maintaining that his commercial relationship with Miss Mark ceased last month. The Mail on Sunday last night accused Mr Blair's aide, Alastair Campbell, of hypocrisy by implying that the newspaper was guilty of invasion of privacy. 

It said Miss Mark's manuscript had exposed details of the Blair children's private lives "on almost every page" but that the newspaper had avoided any reference that might breach the Press Complaints Commission's rules on the issue.