Red Ed accused of willfully 'averting' his gaze as he refuses seven times to say he'll reopen vote-rigging probe Labour leader responded vaguely to questions surrounding the scandal Mr Miliband said: 'we're determined to deal with what happened in Falkirk' Former Chancellor Alistair Darling and Labour's Scottish Leader Joann Lamont have called for the investigation to be reopened By Tim Shipman and Paul Bentley The Labour leader has been accused of 'willfully' averting eye-contact when asked about reopening the probe into election rigging in Scotland Ed Miliband was accused of "wilfully averting" his gaze from the vote-rigging scandal engulfing his party yesterday - as he refused seven times to reopen the inquiry into the activities of the Unite union. The Labour leader came under fire amid fresh evidence of the extraordinary pressure placed on Lorraine Kane, who sparked claims of Unite attempting to fix the selection of a candidate in Falkirk. But despite growing evidence of a cover-up, Mr Miliband conceded he had dismissed the new claims on the basis of one phone call to Mrs Kane from a senior Labour official. The scandal erupted over the summer when Mrs Kane and three other members of her family alleged they had been signed up as members of the Labour Party in Falkirk without their knowledge. That was at a time when Unite's boss in Scotland Stevie Deans, who was also chairman of Falkirk West Labour Party, was trying to secure the seat for Karie Murphy, a close friend of Unite boss Len McCluskey. Labour launched an inquiry, but dropped it after Mrs Kane signed an affidavit which they claimed had appeared to change her testimony. In an explosive development, Unite last night admitted a solicitor hired by the union helped draw up that sworn statement. "Qualified solicitors from Bridge Litigation attended on the Kane family...and took statements from them clarifying their Party membership situation on August 1, 2013," said the statement. Affidavits were then drafted by Bridge Litigation for members of the Kane family...On September 2, Bridge Litigation emailed the Labour Party copies of the affidavits from the Kane family. Mr Miliband is now facing claims that the prospect of a confrontation with Len McCluskey is 'scaring' the Labour leader since it would lead to a 'civil war' with his biggest paymaster that could torpedo his leadership. Ms Kane and her family members were reportedly signed up to the Labour party without their knowledge or permission at a time when Karie Murphy (right), a friend of Unite boss Len McCluskey was chasing the seat Unite's boss in Scotland Stevie Deans resigned from his role as Chairman of the Labour party's Falkirk constituency in the wake of the scandal Labour insists that affidavit amounts to Mrs Kane withdrawing her original claims of wrongdoing. But the Unite statement says: "This was not a matter of the Kanes "withdrawing their evidence." The Kanes were instead clarifying, or supplementing, the material in the "Falkirk report."" The Mail revealed on Monday that Mrs Kane had not changed her evidence. In a tape-recorded conversation with a Mail reporter, she said: "I did not change the testimony... I did not withdraw anything." Former Chancellor Alistair Darling has called for the investigation to be reopened But Mr Miliband rejected that evidence yesterday - on the basis of one phone call by Labour's general secretary Ian MacNichol to Mrs Kane on Monday. "We looked at that evidence," he said. The General Secretary of the party spoke to the lady concerned and indeed her husband and they both confirmed that the evidence they gave us in September was the evidence they stand by. But that intervention has left Mrs Kane distraught. Yesterday she told the Mail the ongoing saga was "destroying" her. A friend of Mrs Kane said she was "manipulated" and that she had no idea the affadavit was to be used to shelve the investigation into her original complaint. Both former Chancellor Alistair Darling and Labour's Scottish leader Johann Lamont have called for the investigation to be re-opened. Repeatedly asked by journalists why he would not reopen the inquiry, Mr Miliband said: "We'll look at any new evidence." However, Labour officials have not even asked to hear the Mail's tape of its interview with Mrs Kane. Atul Hatwal, editor of the pro-Labour blog Labour Uncut, last night claimed Mr Miliband was frightened of confronting Unite. He wrote: "The party appears to be wilfully averting its gaze. Ed Miliband was wrong today when he said that no new information had come to light on Falkirk. Mr Hatwal said if Mr Miliband orders an investigation, Len McCluskey will kill off his plans to recast Labour's relationship with the unions at a special conference in the spring. It's difficult to imagine a situation where the weakness of the leader was more viscerally demonstrated than to be defeated in such a manner. 'This is the nightmare scenario which is scaring the leader's office and is why they are petrified of re-opening the Falkirk inquiry," said Mr Hatwal. QUESTION: Why are you so convinced there hasn't been bullying and intimidation in Falkirk by Unite officials? Don't you think that you haven't reopened the inquiry there smacks of weakness and a cover-up? MILIBAND: The candidate around whom there was controversy has withdrawn and is no longer the candidate. The party there is in special measures. We have ended the union joining scheme under which people were signed up. No members recruited under that scheme will be allowed to vote in the selection ... We've had one police inquiry, which was initiated by the Labour Party. We now have a second police inquiry. On top of all that, I've embarked on an absolutely major reform of our party. I'm absolutely determined we don't have a repeat of Falkirk anywhere. Q: Alistair Darling doesn't think it was enough, though? M: What Alistair was saying was that we should look at any new evidence there is. Yesterday evidence was supposedly produced by one newspaper, the Daily Mail. We looked at that evidence. Q: Compare and contrast, Alistair Darling: "You just can't leave matters as they are," and the leader of the Labour Party appearing to say: "There's nothing more I can do." M: I believe there was machine politics in Falkirk which needed to be dealt with. That's why we've taken such comprehensive action... I'm embarked on the biggest reform of the Labour Party that there's been for a generation. Q: Alistair Darling said there should be a new, thorough, inquiry into Falkirk, not into reform of the Labour Party. He said Labour should do it if the police don't move to prosecutions. Can you silence these questions now by simply saying if the police can't prosecute, "I will open a new inquiry into Falkirk"? M: I think the right thing to do is to look at any new evidence that is presented... I think the Falkirk Labour Party should get on with the business of reconnecting with the people of Falkirk, selecting a new candidate and we will get on with the business of reforming our party. Q: All the things you have just listed that you have done... shows that something has gone badly wrong and you have not got to the bottom of it and people are going to think that you are not pursuing this. M: I think what it shows is that we have taken action on the evidence. Q: It's not just Alistair Darling. Johann Lamont [Scottish Labour Party leader] too has said the circumstances in Falkirk need looking at; Tom Harris [Labour MP for Glasgow South] as well. Isn't there a danger that Labour politicians in Scotland are saying one thing and you're saying another? M: Johann was asked about that Daily Mail story. She rightly said, in my view, we need to look at it - and that's what we did. Q: You said earlier that David Cameron only stands up to the weak, not the strong. Would we not be forgiven for thinking that you've done exactly the same with Len McCluskey and Tom Watson. On a scale of 1 to 10 just how frightened of them are you? M: We took the Mail story seriously. It's right to take seriously any new evidence that's presented by people. That's why we checked it out with the family concerned ... We're determined to deal with what happened in Falkirk and determined to change our relationship with union members.