by David Hencke, Westminster correspondent

A “silly season” story linking junior defence minister Kevan Jones with organising a smear campaign against the former British Army head Sir Richard Dannatt proved this week to be a fake.

The Daily Mail, the News of the World, The Sun, and The Guardian all ran stories naming Mr Jones – known to be a close supporter of Gordon Brown – as the figure behind a planned smear against Sir Richard by organising Labour MPs’ researchers to obtain details of his expenses through freedom of information requests.

Sir Richard was known to have angered ministers by saying he had a “shopping list” of demands for better equipment for the troops in Afghanistan. So a tale ran saying ministers intended to embarrass the general by getting his expenses into the public domain.

But now the Ministry of Defence has issued a reply to an FoI question– apparently put in by a Tory researcher– revealing that not a single Labour MP’s researcher had applied for the information in the past three months. The MoD has to keep records of who applies under the FoI Act.

The reply states: “The Ministry of Defence has received four requests under the Freedom of Information Act relating to General Dannatt in the last three months. These have all been from people identifying themselves as representing broadcast or print media organisations.”

So the claim by the News of the World on August 23 that it had uncovered “a plot by greedy MPs” and its boast that: “We’ve beaten the MPs at their own game, obtaining a bundle of documents including every receipt he’s claimed” is wrong. What the paper had done is beaten its print and TV rivals.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail accused Mr Jones of being at the centre of a  “cowardly and squalid attack” on Sir Richard, pointing out that in the past the minister had accused generals “ of living like “Edwardian gentlemen”  at taxpayers’ expense.

In fact, Mr Jones’ quote actually came from earlier article in the Daily Mail on May 26 2007. This was headed: “ Army top brass lavish £600,000 on servants while troops live in squalor” and Mr Jones was quoted approvingly by the newspaper attacking, among others, Sir Richard Dannatt for a wealthy lifestyle costing taxpayers more than £144,000 a year. Yet the former general chief of staff is now being praised for his supposedly parsimonious expenses by the national press, pointing out he gets wine and food from Tesco and Lidl for his receptions.

The story about Mr Jones may have emanated from Paul Staines, the right-winger who blogs as Guido Fawkes and who prides himself on his exposures of the media and politicians for hypocrisy and double-dealing. He is still confident from his Whitehall sources that the ministerial team wanted to damage Sir Richard, but this week distanced himself from suggestions that the minister was behind the FoI campaign. Senior Tories also briefed journalists about the matter.  l