RED-FACED Jack Straw today admitted dropping a major clanger in a controversial national newspaper article.

The Blackburn MP referred to the East Lancashire Health Commission in a hard-hitting piece entitled 'Our Secret Society' - a fierce broadside on Government quangos.

He wrote that he often quizzed the public during his Blackburn town centre 'soapboxes' on the identity of the chairman of the health commission.

Shadow Home Secretary Mr Straw wrote in The Guardian that he even offered £5 to the person who could name the chairman.

But his gaffe was that there is no such thing as the East Lancashire Health Commission.

Mr Straw said the error was his own and he had meant to refer to East Lancashire Health Authority. His article said: "Once in a while I ask the assembled audience if they can name the chairman of the East Lancashire Health Commission, even offering £5 to the first person with the correct answer.

"Never once have I had to pay up."

Mr Straw's claim brought a swift response from East Lancashire Health Authority chairman Bill Ashworth.

He said: "I am not surprised that local people have not heard of the East Lancashire Health Commission - because it does not exist.

"East Lancashire Health Authority came into existence on April 1, 1994. With GPs our job is to commission healthcare for more than 500,000 people in East Lancashire."

Mr Straw said he had always correctly referred to the health authority during his open-air talks, but had made a mistake when he put it in writing.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.