JACK Straw today lifted the lid for the first time on his role in the 1970s Jeremy Thorpe scandal and said: "I've done nothing wrong."

It was claimed this week that the Blackburn MP and Foreign Secretary had broken Whitehall rules in 1976 to acquire confidential information on male model Norman Scott so Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson could smear Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe as a homosexual.

The affair was revealed when Mr Thorpe was later unsuccessfully prosecuted for conspiracy to murder Mr Scott in a 1979 court case.

But Foreign Secretary Mr Straw, speaking in an exclusive interview with the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, denied that he broke any confidentiality rules.

The events were revealed in the diaries of Mr Wilson's former press secretary Joe Haines.

At the time Mr Straw was special adviser to Health and Social Security Secretary Barbara Castle whom he succeeded as Labour MP for Blackburn.

Of the claim that he was digging dirt on Mr Scott for Mr Wilson to smear Mr Thorpe for fear that a Liberal-Tory coalition could topple the Labour government, Mr Straw said: "This is fantasy being built on fantasy.

"Barbara told me at the time that Mr Wilson did not believe that Jeremy Thorpe was homosexual nor had an affair with Norman Scott.

"He feared that Mr Scott was going to use a prosecution by the Department of Health and Social Security taken out in Barbara's name as Secretary of State to smear Mr Thorpe.

"I can't remember the precise details but there were questions about his contributions and benefits.

"The Prime Minister asked Barbara to provide him with a summary of the files being used for the prosecution case.

"I was told by Barbara he wanted to protect Mr Thorpe.

"She asked the Permanent Secretary to provide her with the file so Norman Warner, then principal private secretary at the DHSS, and I could then provide a summary of it for Mr Wilson.

"The file was produced. I don't believe any confidentiality rules were broken but that would be a matter for the Permanent Secretary and Barbara not for me.

"Norman and I then summarised the contents, gave them to Barbara who gave them to the Prime Minister. I never spoke to Mr Wilson about the issue.

"I acted properly throughout. "

Mr Straw said he had never revealed nor "leaked'' details of the file to anyone.