Falconer urged to quit as another Dome boss goes
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Your support makes all the difference.A senior Labour MP called last night for the resignation of the minister for the Dome, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, after the crisis surrounding the attraction claimed its fifth victim.
A senior Labour MP called last night for the resignation of the minister for the Dome, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, after the crisis surrounding the attraction claimed its fifth victim.
Martin O'Neill, chairman of the House of Commons Select Committee on Trade and Industry, called for Lord Falconer to "consider his political future" after Neil Spence, the Dome's finance and corporate services director, resigned. Mr Spence's departure, two years after his appointment as a senior executive of the New Millennium Experience Company, follows disclosures about the state of the NMEC's finances and more management changes.
Despite his resignation, Mr Spence, paid £147,000 last year, will work at the Dome, in Greenwich, south-east London, until December. The NMEC board, which met yesterday for the first time since the latest crisis began, agreed he should work out his notice to help manage the Dome's closure on 31 December.
Doubts over Lord Falconer's standing in the Labour Party will grow following Mr O'Neill's intervention. The MP for Ochil is the most senior Labour backbencher to suggest the minister should resign because of his role in the Dome's crises.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, he said he did not believe the minister should be sacked but added: "When the House resumes [next month], Lord Falconer should consider his political future."
David James, the NMEC's new executive chairman, revealed this month that its 2,800 contracts and its accounts system were in disarray. It had been trading insolvently since July after visitor figures failed to reach expectations. It had unknown financial liabilities to many contractors, and open-ended supply contracts. The NMEC had also failed to maintain an accurate list of assets.
Mr James's arrival on 5 September as the NMEC's accounting officer in charge of its finances immediately raised questions about Mr Spence's position. Mr James also brought in John Darlington, a chartered accountant, as an executive to handle the Dome's closure.
Mr Spence's resignation follows the sacking earlier this year of two chairmen, Bob Ayling, then chief executive of British Airways, and David Quarmby, chairman of the British Tourist Authority. Jennie Page was sacked in February as NMEC chief executive, followed by Ken Robinson, the NMEC's director of operations.
Suggestions that Mr Spence's departure, which was expected two weeks ago, had been delayed because of the death of a family member were rejected as a "red herring" by an NMEC source yesterday. He said yesterday's board meeting was the first since Mr James's appointment.
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