Editing Michael Howard (section)

====Controversies====
Howard's reputation was damaged on 13 May 1997 when a critical inquiry into a series of prison escapes was published. Howard denied responsibility for the [[Prison Service]]'s operations and laid the blame with Director General [[Derek Lewis (administrator)|Derek Lewis]], who was sacked.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mills|first=Heather|date=20 October 1995|title=Prison drama ends in political farce|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/prison-drama-ends-in-political-farce-1578591.html|work=The Independent|access-date=7 July 2024}}</ref> Lewis sued the Home Office for [[wrongful dismissal]] and alleged that Howard had regularly interfered with the service's operations, citing an instance in which Howard put "extreme and unjustified pressure" on him to suspend the governor of [[Parkhurst Prison]] (threatening to overrule him if he did not).<ref>{{cite news|last1=Webster|first1=Philip|last2=Ford|first2=Richard|date=19 October 1995|title=Howard ready to come out fighting as Lewis sues|url=
https://archive.org/details/NewsUK1995UKEnglish/Oct%2019%201995%2C%20The%20Times%2C%20%2365402%2C%20UK%20%28en%29|work=[[The Times]]|access-date=7 July 2024}}</ref> In a television interview on ''[[Newsnight]],'' [[Jeremy Paxman]] asked Howard whether he had in fact threatened to overrule Lewis, posing the question "Did you threaten to overrule him?" twelve times. Howard repeatedly said that he "did not instruct him", ignoring the "threaten" part of the question.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/3094255.stm |title=Newsnight – Jeremy Paxman biography |work=BBC News |date=10 October 2006 |access-date=17 April 2010 |archive-date=12 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912033415/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/3094255.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Paxman asked him again in another interview in 2004. Howard responded: "Oh come on, Jeremy, are you really going back over that again? As it happens, I didn't. Are you satisfied now?" Secret Home Office papers partially vindicated Howard, but show that Howard asked a top civil servant if he had the power to overrule Lewis.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/mar/02/ukcrime.freedomofinformation |title=Secret Home Office papers on prison row fail to clear Howard |date=2 March 2005 |first=Alan |last=Travis |location=London |work=The Guardian |access-date=15 December 2016 |archive-date=4 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404045801/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/mar/02/ukcrime.freedomofinformation |url-status=live }}</ref>

Shortly after the 1997 ''Newsnight'' interview, [[Ann Widdecombe]], his former minister of state at the Home Office, made a statement in the House of Commons about the dismissal of Derek Lewis and remarked of Howard that there is "[[something of the night about him]]".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sengupta|first1=Kim|last2=Abrams|first2=Fran|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/widdecombe-goes-for-the-jugular-1261224.html?amp|title=Widdecombe goes for the jugular|work=The Independent|date=12 May 1997|access-date=3 April 2017|archive-date=3 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403194601/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/widdecombe-goes-for-the-jugular-1261224.html?amp|url-status=live}}</ref> This much quoted comment is thought to have contributed to the failure of his 1997 bid for the Conservative Party leadership, including by Howard and Widdecombe and led to him being caricatured as a vampire, in part due to his Romanian ancestry.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8435904.stm|title=Ann Widdecombe 'tested out' Howard quip|work=BBC News|date=31 December 2009|access-date=3 April 2017|archive-date=8 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108112244/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8435904.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Crick|first=Michael|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/mission-accomplished-how-howard-was-knifed-757lktbmgdt|title='Mission accomplished': how Howard was knifed|work=[[The Times]]|date=30 March 2005|access-date=3 April 2017|archive-date=6 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906134657/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mission-accomplished-how-howard-was-knifed-757lktbmgdt|url-status=live}}{{subscription required}} Extract from Crick's book ''In search of Michael Howard''.</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Holland|first1=David|title=Interview with a Vampire|url=http://thetab.com/uk/cambridge/2011/05/03/interview-with-a-vampire-2630|work=The Tab|date=3 May 2011|access-date=4 January 2017|archive-date=4 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104163735/http://thetab.com/uk/cambridge/2011/05/03/interview-with-a-vampire-2630|url-status=live}}</ref> Such characterisations caused discontent among some members of Britain's Jewish community.

In 1996 Howard, as Home Secretary, ordered the release of [[John Haase (criminal)|John Haase]] and Paul Bennett with [[Pardon#United Kingdom|royal pardons]] after 10 months of their 18-year prison sentences for heroin smuggling, after they had provided information leading to the seizure of firearms. In 2008 Haase and Bennett were convicted of having set up the weapons finds to earn them their release, and sentenced to 20 and 22 years in prison respectively.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Summers |first1=Chris |title=How a home secretary was hoodwinked |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7671946.stm |access-date=19 November 2008 |work=BBC News |archive-date=17 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417051159/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7671946.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>