Mr. Michael Howard:

As I said earlier, I wish I had explained that to Mr. Barrett. I did not know it was going to become an issue. I probably should have explained it to him. My only issue in that regard was that, as this story unfolded, I became very aware that, as auditor, one has to stand back and maintain a distance from the domain one is auditing. I was becoming aware of various frictions and difficulties that might arise in relation to Mr. Kelly's interim audit report. I was conscious of the need to maintain a distance because of my role as independent reviewer and quality assurer of the work carried out by Mr. Kelly.