Editing Profumo affair (section)

===Personal statement===
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| quote = The trouble is I am 21&nbsp;... I have lived in the West End of London and frequently been to parties with well-known people present. Presumably if I had been 52 and a housewife from [[Surbiton]] there would have been none of this trouble.
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| source = Christine Keeler, press interview 25 March 1963<ref name= DH276/>
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The newly elected leader of the opposition Labour Party, [[Harold Wilson]], was initially advised by his colleagues to have nothing to do with Wigg's private [[Information|dossier]] on the Profumo rumours.<ref>Davenport-Hines, p. 271</ref> On 21 March, with the press furore over the "missing witness" at its height, the party changed its stance. During a [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] debate, Wigg used [[Parliamentary privilege in the United Kingdom|parliamentary privilege]] to ask the [[Home Secretary]] to categorically deny the truth of rumours connecting "a minister" to Keeler, Rice-Davies and the Edgecombe shooting.<ref>{{cite web |date=21 March 1963 |title=Journalists (Imprisonment) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1963/mar/21/journalists-imprisonment#S5CV0674P0_19630321_HOC_512 |access-date=22 June 2016 |publisher=Hansard online |pages=col. 723–25 |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |volume=674}}</ref> He did not name Profumo, who was not in the House.<ref name="Irving100">Irving et al, pp 100–01</ref> Later in the debate [[Barbara Castle]], the Labour MP for [[Blackburn (UK Parliament constituency)|Blackburn]], referred to the "missing witness" and hinted at a possible [[perverting the course of justice|perversion of justice]].<ref name="Irving100" /><ref>{{cite web |date=21 March 1963 |title=Journalists (Imprisonment) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1963/mar/21/journalists-imprisonment#S5CV0674P0_19630321_HOC_512 |access-date=22 June 2016 |publisher=Hansard online |pages=col. 737–40 |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |volume=674}}</ref> The Home Secretary, [[Henry Brooke, Baron Brooke of Cumnor|Henry Brooke]], refused to comment, adding that Wigg and Castle should "seek other means of making these insinuations if they are prepared to substantiate them".<ref>{{cite web |date=22 March 1963 |title=Journalists (Imprisonment) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1963/mar/21/journalists-imprisonment#S5CV0674P0_19630321_HOC_512 |access-date=22 June 2016 |publisher=Hansard online |pages=col. 758 |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |volume=674}}</ref>

At the conclusion of the debate, the government's law officers and Chief Whip agreed that Profumo should assert his innocence in a personal statement to the House. Such statements are, by long-standing tradition, made on the particular honour of the member and are accepted by the House without question.<ref name="Y17">Young, p. 17</ref> In the early hours of 22 March Profumo and his lawyers met with ministers and together agreed on an appropriate wording. Later that morning Profumo made his statement to a crowded House. He acknowledged friendships with Keeler and Ward, the former of whom, he said, he had last seen in December 1961. He had met "a Mr Ivanov" twice, also in 1961. He stated: "There was no impropriety whatsoever in my acquaintanceship with Miss Keeler", and added: "I shall not hesitate to issue writs for [[libel]] and [[slander]] if scandalous allegations are made or repeated outside the House."<ref>{{cite web |date=22 March 1963 |title=Personal statement |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1963/mar/22/personal-statement#S5CV0674P0_19630322_HOC_7 |access-date=22 June 2016 |publisher=Hansard online |pages=col. 809 |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |volume=674}}</ref> That afternoon, Profumo was photographed at [[Sandown Park Racecourse]] in the company of the [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Mother]].<ref name="DH276">Davenport-Hines, pp. 276–77</ref>

While the matter was officially considered closed,<ref name="DH276" /> many individual MPs had doubts, although none openly expressed disbelief at this stage. Wigg later said that he left the House that morning "with black rage in my heart because I knew what the facts were. I knew the truth."<ref>Irving et al, p. 109</ref> Most newspapers were editorially non-committal; only ''[[The Guardian]]'', under the headline "Mr Profumo clears the air", stated openly that the statement should be taken at its face value.<ref>Young, pp. 18–19</ref><ref>Irving, p. 111</ref> Within a few days press attention was distracted by the re-emergence of Keeler in [[Madrid]]. She expressed astonishment at the fuss her absence had caused, adding that her friendship with Profumo and his wife was entirely innocent and that she had many friends in important positions.<ref name="DH276" /> Keeler claimed that she had not deliberately missed the Edgecombe trial but had been confused about the date. She was required to forfeit her [[recognizance]] of £40, but no other action was taken against her.<ref>Young, pp. 20–21</ref>