London - The High Court yesterday granted former Tory cabinet minister Mr Jonathan Aitken an interim order under the Insolvency Act.
The order is the first step towards voluntary insolvency, and means that no creditor can serve a bankruptcy petition or take other legal action to recover money from Aitken in the next 14 days.
The move comes as the Guardian and Granada Television continue to pursue the former minister for £2 million in damages from a failed libel action.