all the fundraising issues that arise." However, he later called into question Dromey's competence, saying he had "serious questions about Jack Dromey's capacity" as Labour treasurer and the fact Dromey did not know about the loans meant "you have to wonder how well he was doing his work" finally adding, "I don't know why Jack behaved as he did." He rejected as "nonsense" a suggestion that the treasurer had spoken publicly about the loans to speed up the transition of power from Blair to Chancellor Gordon Brown. Sir Jeremy Beecham Sir Jeremy Beecham, chairman of Labour's governing body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), accused Charles Clarke of speaking out of turn and defended party treasurer Jack Dromey. He said the treasurer "shouldn't be criticised" and had "acted perfectly properly". It was "absolutely clear that the reasons that NEC officers, including the elected party treasurer, did not know about the loans had nothing to do with any failings on their part". He added: "Jack Dromey has always carried out his responsibilities with great diligence and retained the absolute confidence of the NEC in ensuring that this issue is dealt with." In an interview on BBC2's Newsnight he said Clarke had not read the situation correctly. "I don't know how closely Charles has been involved in all this. He's not been on the National Executive for a number of years. I wouldn't have said it in Charles Clarke's position." Harriet Harman In a measure aimed to avoid any conflict of interest, Dromey's wife Harriet Harman – a minister in the Department for Constitutional Affairs – relinquished her responsibilities for overseeing electoral reform and House of Lords reform. Diane Abbott Writing of Dromey's reaction in The Times of 17 March 2006, left-wing Labour MP Diane Abbott said: "But perhaps Mr Dromey is furious because he has seen things that have not yet been made public. Perhaps facts have finally been revealed to him about new Labour's inner circle and their adventures in influence-peddling and in the world of the super-rich that he really did not know before. And the enormity of what he has discovered may have made him determined that whoever else may be swept away in the ensuing scandal, it will not be him." Clare Short Former cabinet minister and Blair critic Clare Short described the issue with characteristic bluntness: "What we're getting is a bubble of these clever people who've