Labour Corruption Roundup
Here's a brief rundown on the larger stories on the fundraising affair:
Blair had a secret meeting with Sir Gulam Noon, and this story
"Why did the party do it? Because the party was skint. We were going to get beaten up if the others were doing it. "Blair knew exactly what was going on. As far as he was concerned, it was absolutely legal. It wasn't a matter of convincing him, because it was absolutely legal. It was a matter of everyone convincing each other." The Independent on Sunday has established that the "senior Labour figure" was Lord Levy himself. There's another Donor with a gong, but this article states that Levy was arrested because he wasn't cooperating with the police. Why not? He's still trying to protect Tony, but he's determined not to be the fall guy and 'friends' have been explaining his likely defence: Levy has told friends he was against loans but Blair overruled him because Labour was in a “desperate†financial situation. This week Labour will publish its annual accounts, which are expected to show the party has £27m of debts. “People came with loans over the years, but Levy said he couldn’t do that, he wouldn’t do that,†said a well-placed source. “But the party did not have a bean to fight the election last year. So Matt Carter [then Labour’s general secretary] had to get approval from the prime minister on whether we would start accepting loans. Blair agreed. Obviously, Levy is asking for gifts. “If people said they didn’t want any publicity or grief, but they were prepared to give a loan, Levy had to go back to the party and say, ‘Look, I have someone who is prepared to give a loan’. This then goes back to Blair, who has to say yes or no to accepting it. To have a go at Levy for doing his job is just not fair.†The arrest ruined Levy's birthday and blew a hole in New Labour's hubris: By Wednesday evening, however, the same cocky Downing Street aides were unavailable for comment.
Always keep to hand the five
Always keep to hand the five fingers of Fraudulism