Diary: Simon Bowers

· Time, we think, to cast the Diary's microscope over Ken Clarke's eight-year career at British American Tobacco. Our eye is immediately caught by a summary this week of his time at the firm. "It's become more controversial since I went on the board," Ken suggests. A remark, we imagine, that may not be well received at the next board meeting - not least as Ken's main BAT role is to nurture the company's reputation for "corporate social responsibility". Is it, we ask the BAT press office, the board's collective opinion - despite Ken's best efforts to present the tobacco giant as a good corporate citizen - that BAT has indeed become more controversial in the last eight years? "I'm a little bit reluctant to answer till I know what Ken was talking about. I'll get back to you when I've had a word with him." Very kind.

· This is not the first time Ken's comments have appeared at odds with those of his BAT colleagues. Perhaps Ken's finest hour at BAT was during a shareholder meeting two years ago when, forced to answer a question on the company's operations in Burma, he admitted it was "not one of the most attractive governments in the world". The remark privately enraged his fellow board members and almost certainly contributed to BAT's eventual decision to accede to Foreign Office requests to pull out of the military junta-controlled country. We ring Ken's spokeswoman and ask how attractive the Tory leadership contender regards the Iranian regime (BAT sells about 6bn cigarettes a year in the Islamic state - double the number it sells in the UK). "He's in back-to-back interviews. I'm not sure he will be making a comment. I'll get back to you." Very kind.

· According to BAT's website, Ken first came across the tobacco firm while serving in the early years of the Thatcher government. "I was inner cities minister and I encountered the company's work as a good corporate citizen in supporting urban regeneration projects," says online Ken. "BAT is actually one of the more advanced and responsible British companies I've come across." Perhaps he should get out more. BAT is planning the closure of its last factory in Britain with the loss of up to 800 jobs. Unions have expressed outrage at the way production is being shunted to Singapore and South Korea. In 1999 the company closed a factory at Spennymoor, Durham, with the loss of 460 jobs. Four years later it announced the closure of a plant in Darlington with the loss of 490 jobs - all during Ken's tenure.

· BAT's press office rings back on the subject of Ken's allegation that the tobacco giant has become more controversial over the last eight years: "What Ken said was not meant in any particularly negative way. It was a comment on the public perception of BAT." So, to repeat our question, the board does not believe that BAT has been behaving in a more controversial way in the last eight years? "No, certainly not." Thank you. That's all we need to know.

· And while she is on the phone, we ask the BAT press officer if she can clarify Ken's position on the Iranian regime, under which BAT is enjoying such remarkable growth. After consulting with the Ken camp, she calls back: "We can't speak for Ken on the Iran issue," she says (apparently under firm instructions). "But we would obviously assume he would be supportive [of our presence there]. We have never heard him complain at any level. Don't forget, Ken is on our corporate social responsibility audit committee." Indeed so. He chairs it - "and would oversee human rights reports on all countries where we operate".

· "If you don't mind me asking," ventures the BAT press officer. "Why are you particularly interested in Iran?" It is a very good question. Why not, for example, Uzbekistan (another lucrative market for BAT)? So many questions... If you get a chance, Ken, please get in touch.