Editing Michael Heseltine (section)

====Mayhew's leaked letter====
By now the political row was being discussed in the media, partly because of the lack of other news in December. Cuckney wrote to Thatcher, at her behest, asking for reassurance that the Sikorsky deal would not damage Westland's business prospects in Europe. Heseltine was not satisfied with Thatcher's draft reply when he saw it and consulted Sir [[Patrick Mayhew]] ([[Solicitor General for England and Wales|Solicitor-General]] and acting [[Attorney General for England and Wales|Attorney-General]] as Sir [[Michael Havers]] was ill) on the grounds that the government might be legally liable for any incorrect advice. Heseltine supplied extra material about the risk of losing European business, which Thatcher did not include in her reply to Cuckney. Heseltine then wrote to David Horne of [[Lloyds Bank|Lloyds Merchant Bank]], who was advising the European consortium (in reply to planted questions from Horne which had been dictated to him over the phone by one of Heseltine's staff), giving him the advice which Thatcher had declined to include in her letter to Cuckney (that the Sikorsky deal would be "incompatible with participation" in European helicopter projects). Heseltine's letter was also leaked to the press. This was a blatant challenge to Thatcher's authority as Heseltine had not consulted Downing Street, the Department of Trade and Industry or Mayhew before writing to Horne.<ref>Crick 1997, pp. 282–3.</ref>

Thatcher discussed sacking Heseltine with close colleagues over Christmas; but, as she later admitted in her memoir, refrained from doing so as he was too popular and important as a political figure.<ref>{{cite book|author=Margaret Thatcher|title=The Downing Street Years|year=2012|publisher=HarperPress|isbn=978-0-00-745663-5|page=436}}</ref> She also decided against sending him a letter threatening him with the sack, which had been drafted. Instead she asked Mayhew to write to Heseltine complaining of what he thought were "material inaccuracies" in his letter to Horne, and asking Heseltine to write to Horne again, correcting them.<ref>{{cite book|author=John Campbell|title=Margaret Thatcher Volume Two: The Iron Lady|date=30 April 2011|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1-4464-2008-9|page=487}}</ref> Mayhew's letter of rebuke to Heseltine – marked "Confidential" – reached Heseltine at lunchtime on Monday 6 January and was immediately leaked to the press by [[Colette Bowe]], an information officer at the Department of Trade and Industry, at Brittan's request (some years later he admitted that he acted on the "express" instructions of [[Charles Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater|Charles Powell]] and [[Bernard Ingham]], Thatcher's two senior advisers). Heseltine was able to produce extra documents which Mayhew accepted as backing up his letter to Horne, but not before ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' had called Heseltine "You Liar!" on its front page (the newspaper was later required to make a donation to charity in lieu of libel damages).<ref>Crick 1997, pp. 283–5.</ref>