Tory leader William Hague could have learned of Jeffrey Archer's false alibi shame a year ago, if he had not chosen to ignore his friend, the Oxfordshire author Michael Crick.

Mr Crick discovered full details of the time-bomb ticking under Archer in June 1998 from the mouth of the man Archer asked to lie for him before a libel trial.

And Mr Crick, Lord Archer's biographer, said he wanted to reveal all to Mr Hague, an old friend from his days at Oxford University.

But instead of welcoming a heaven-sent opportunity to learn the truth about Archer, the Tory leader chose to snub his old student pal.

In an exclusive interview with the Oxford Mail, Mr Crick, who lives in Swerford, north Oxfordshire, revealed how television producer Ted Francis confessed all to him

It is certain to raise fresh doubts about Mr Hague's judgement. It will also undermine Conservative claims that "no new material" existed to damn Archer in the run-up to his selection as the Tory candidate for Mayor of London. Mr Crick said he would have included an account of how Archer had asked Mr Francis to fabricate an alibi in a dossier that he wanted to present to Mr Hague.

Mr Crick, a reporter on BBC's Newsnight programme, said: "I had a pretty terrible list of things to tell Mr Hague. I would most certainly have added what Ted had to say to the dossier."

He added that some of the material he wished to put in front of the Tory leader was "even worse" than the false alibi story that has destroyed Lord Archer's political career. Mr Crick said: "I have known Ted Francis for five years. It was natural that he should see me as an outlet to get the story out. But I was unable to publish. "There was just no independent collaboration and he was a man who had already admitted lying 12 years ago. It required an entrapment process, which I was not prepared to do."

But he was prepared to make available to the Conservative leadership "the vast amounts of material" that he had not been able to publish, in the hope that it would lead to a dialogue with Mr Hague.

In his letter to the Tory leader, sent in April 1998, he warned that Archer was a "much sleazier character than Aitken or Hamilton or any of the other Tory miscreants".

Mr Crick said that he knew of at least six more damaging stories about the Conservative novelist, adding prophetically: "It must be highly likely that further damaging material about Archer will soon emerge, either during the campaign for Mayor or possibly after he is elected."

But his request for a private meeting was simply ignored. Mr Crick said: "Despite our friendship, Mr Hague did not even give me the courtesy of a personal reply. Instead, after a gap of more than five weeks, his political secretary, Sebastian Coe, gave me a terse three-line response. 'I acknowledge receipt of your letter, and its contents have been noted'."

Mr Crick launched an assault on Lord Archer's reputation as soon as the ill-fated campaign to become London Mayor began, with a damning account of how Jeffrey Archer got into Oxford with no A-levels. Archer would never have got into Brasenose College, if his total lack of qualifications had been known, alleged the BBC man.

Mr Crick, who like Mr Hague was a former President of the Oxford Union, is now working on a biography of Rupert Murdoch.

Yesterday he was researching new material related to the Archer libel trial.

The former top Conservative may be disgraced, humiliated and a political pariah, but his biographer has not finished with him yet. The book is still far from closed on Lord Archer.

Story date: Wednesday 24 November

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