The Socialist People’s Party’s Political Spokesman Ole Sohn has called on Foreign Minister Lene Espersen (Cons) to release a set of controversial e-mails, following disclosures by the Economy and Trade Ministry yesterday that the emails have not been deleted.

The e-mails are said to concern issues relating to the rates of national health service payments to private hospitals.

“The case shows clearly that the government has done everything it can to hide the fact that it has used 25 percent overpayment in order to support the new private sector. The fact that they have used all their energy for a year to erase traces, makes it even worse,” says Sohn, adding he expects Espersen to present the e-mails.

“If the mails are not presented, the only alternative is an independent inquiry. There’s just too much skullduggery in this issue,” Sohn says.

Ordered e-mails deleted
Last week, it was alleged that several civil servants had been ordered to delete e-mails about an internal report that described over-payment to private hospitals. Information on the e-mails was presented in a new biography about Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.

But a news release from the Economy and Trade Ministry yesterday denied that civil servants had been directly ordered to delete e-mails.

The ministry explains that an employee received a call from Lene Espersen’s spin doctor in May 2009, which the employee understood to be an order to stop mail correspondence with the Health Ministry in connection with Parliamentary Question Time on the issue.

The employee was also of the impression that e-mails should be deleted, but instead approached a superior who ordered the e-mails not to be erased. The ministry concludes that it has all relevant e-mails on the issue.