Labour treasurer ignorant of loans.

[InsaneApache]

I watched him on newsnight last night. He seems an honourable and upright man. One thing that struck me was his sense of propreity and honesty.

Labour loans to be investigated

Jack Dromey is investigating the issue

Labour's treasurer has revealed that he and other elected officials did not know the party had secretly borrowed millions of pounds last year

and

He only found out when details of the money emerged in the newspapers and wants to find out who obtained them for the Labour Party.

link

Is this Labours' sleaze?

[Marcellus]

According to a report I saw on Channel Four News, there were about three people in the Labour Party who knew about the loan. This really is appalling. If Labour aren't going to make the House of Lords elected, then it could at least make the appointment of Life Peers the responsibility of an independent body.

[Duke Malcolm]

it could at least make the appointment of Life Peers the responsibility of an independent body.

Technically it is -- The House of Lords Appointments Commission. However it currently recommends those nominations from the party leaders over others...

[Marcellus]

Technically it is -- The House of Lords Appointments Commission. However it currently recommends those nominations from the party leaders over others...

Exactly. If we are going to keep life peers, then we need a truly independent body to appoint them - parties should not be able to nominate people.

[InsaneApache]

The loans amount to £14, 000, 000

No doubt the other parties do this sort of thing, but £14 million! ...AND no one outside of Downing St. appears to know about it!

Baldrick was just on the BBC calling for Blair to go. He stated the obvious when he said that there must be 2 sets of books. Bloody hell if I did that I'd go to gaol.

Remember kiddies this is the government that promised transparency and no sleaze when elected in '97.

Mr. Bliar it's time to get your coat.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Louis VI the Fat]

English lesson time!

'Gaol'.

So, is it pronounced as 'jail'? Is it slang? Is it an offical spelling? Common? Local? Does it bear different emotional connotations from prison or jail? Are the Americans and Australians as puzzled by it as I was?

That'll be all.

[InsaneApache]

jail=American English
gaol=British English

gaol - a correctional institution used to detain persons who are in the lawful custody of the government (either accused persons awaiting trial or convicted persons serving a sentence)
jail, jailhouse, slammer, clink
bastille - a jail (literally, a French jail)
correctional institution - a penal institution maintained by the government
holding cell - a jail in a courthouse where accused persons can be confined during a trial
hoosegow, hoosgow - a slang term for a jail
house of correction - (formerly) a jail or other place of detention for persons convicted of minor offences
lockup - jail in a local police station
pokey - a slang term for jail
workhouse - a county jail that holds prisoners for periods up to 18 months
Verb 1. gaol - lock up or confine, in or as in a jail; "The suspects were imprisoned without trial"; "the murderer was incarcerated for the rest of his life"
immure, imprison, incarcerate, jail, jug, put behind bars, remand, lag, put away
jurisprudence, law - the collection of rules imposed by authority; "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order"
detain, confine - deprive of freedom; take into confinement

gaol

It's the traditional British English spelling. As I speak British English (albeit with a broad Yorkshire/Lancastrian accent ) I like to use the correct spelling.

[Louis VI the Fat]

It's the traditional British English spelling.

I see.

Sleazy politicians should be send to jail gaol.

[The_Doctor]

Gaol?

You are the first person I have seen use the word "gaol", other than a few signs. Maybe it is a Yorkshire thing.


£14m.

Somebody will go and it will not be Blair.

[Marcellus]

'Gaol' is the early modern English word for jail (and not just in Yorkshire). It is much less common nowadays, but is still used occasionally.

[InsaneApache]

Gaol?

You are the first person I have seen use the word "gaol", other than a few signs. Maybe it is a Yorkshire thing.


£14m.

Somebody will go and it will not be Blair.

Yes. It is the official 'lingua franca' in the UK. It's called English.

I know you woollybacks are the 'Texas' of the UK, but Yorkshire aint a 'language', just yet!!

[The_Doctor]

I know you woollybacks are the 'Texas' of the UK, but Yorkshire aint a 'language', just yet!!

I am from Liverpool. No woollybacks here.

[rory_20_uk]

Right... It's as corrupt as hell. Just like the conservatives, and further proof that money flocks to power and is the only reason that labour was comparatively so clean before power.

The argument appears to be all is well as the money is all spent on getting Labour elected. Talk about answering the question they wish they'd been asked!

[JAG]

Tories do it far more than us, which is why they are keeping shut about it, I bet they raised double what we did at election time.

Though, of course, that doesn't make it right and I think we should move towards a completely state financing of parties, seems fair to me.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

This whole affair is horrendous. Not only do the party seem to have committed fraud-for which people would be going to prison if it were a private company-they've abused their power to appoint people as a part of our parliamentary system for life while they were at it.

Eurgh.

[The_Doctor]

Prescott did not know about it:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4821702.stm

Maybe only Blair was involved.

[Duke Malcolm]

Gaol?

You are the first person I have seen use the word "gaol", other than a few signs. Maybe it is a Yorkshire thing.


£14m.

Somebody will go and it will not be Blair.

I use "gaol" instead of "jail". Although, I most often write "prison"

Tories do it far more than us, which is why they are keeping shut about it, I bet they raised double what we did at election time.

Though, of course, that doesn't make it right and I think we should move towards a completely state financing of parties, seems fair to me.

I don't think the Tories would be so discreet about it and neglect to tell the party treasurer and half the (shadow) cabinet about the money. And we all know Tony does it far more than theTories. 292 peers has Big Tony created in his 9 years of premiership, and one in ten are big party donors.

[therother]

Sorry, I'm having a hard time believing that Jack Dromey was ignorant of the loans. The Treasurer's job is to oversee fundraising and ensure that the party had enough funds to fight the Election. Early 2005 they are obviously short of cash, and miraculously a month or two later they have an extra £14 million extra in the bank, with no corresponding increase in donations (which must be declared). Where did he think the cash came from?

And this is happening whilst the other two main parties, who he must know are also accepting loans of this kind, are flush with cash as a result. I mean, £14 million is a serious chunk of change for the Labour Party, as it's nearly the entire 2005 Election budget. It's not as if he could possibly have missed the difference between their expenditures and their registered income, unless he's completely incompetent. So I find it hard to believe that he didn't notice the cash. He may have elected not to ask where it came from, but wilful ignorance is a different issue altogether. No, I suspect there is more to this than meets the eye...

[The_Doctor]

What ever happened it is banned now:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4823680.stm

[InsaneApache]

Looks like the Downing St. NKVD has swung into action.

Charles Clarke says he has "serious questions about Jack Dromey's capacity" as Labour treasurer after the row over the £14m of secret loans to the party.

click

So if Tony gets caught out with his fingers in the till, no matter, just smear the messenger. Once, just once, it would be nice if they displayed the honesty they trumpeted about in '97.

[Marcellus]

To be fair to Charles Clarke, you do have to wonder why the Labour treasurer didn't notice the fact that the party had gained £14 million.

[Kanamori]

So, how long now until Blair resigns I wonder? I've heard some say quite soon, but I'm doubting it.

To be fair to Charles Clarke, you do have to wonder why the Labour treasurer didn't notice the fact that £14 million had been added to the party's accounts.

I think it highlights perfectly why Blair's style is so bad. One person simply cannot keep track of things that are going on, and they cannot investigate things as a good journalist or similarly minded person could. It's far too centralized, IMO.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

To be fair to Charles Clarke, you do have to wonder why the Labour treasurer didn't notice the fact that the party had gained £14 million.

Indeed, but it's hardly the most important issue at hand, is it?

Perhaps he just wasn't expecting elected representatives to be sickeningly corrupt...

[InsaneApache]

It looks as though New Labour is going to implode.

The chairman of Labour's governing body has accused Home Secretary Charles Clarke of speaking out of turn in the row over secret loans to the party.

National Executive Committee chairman Sir Jeremy Beecham defended party treasurer Jack Dromey, who has said he knew nothing about £14m in loans.

Now Inspector Baboon of the Yard has been called in!

Sir Jeremy said the treasurer "shouldn't be criticised" and had "acted perfectly properly".

Meanwhile, police are examining three complaints that Labour has breached the honours system, something it denies.

I think the emotion is called schaudenfraude

[Banquo's Ghost]

This is funny - trust the wags at ebay!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03...erage_auction/

[InsaneApache]

Now our esteemed deputy leader gets embroiled.

JOHN PRESCOTT made planning decisions in favour of two property developers who had given secret loans and a donation to the Labour party, it emerged this weekend.

The deputy prime minister gave his backing to a controversial £600m scheme proposed by Andrew Rosenfeld, chairman of the Minerva property company, only months after Rosenfeld had secretly loaned Labour £1m last year.



It was the second time Prescott had favoured the company. In 2003 he approved planning permission for a controversial skyscraper in London.

At that time the chairman of the company was Sir David Garrard, who had only months earlier given Labour £200,000. Garrard went on to lend the party £2.3m last year and was nominated for a peerage.

Can you smell the stench?

Two Jabs

Can 'Teflon' Tony get away with this one?

TONY BLAIR knew that four businessmen had secretly loaned millions of pounds to Labour when he put them forward for peerages, a Downing Street insider has disclosed.

and

The disclosure shows for the first time Blair’s hands-on role in the loans for honours scandal. He is thought to be the only person involved in choosing nominees who was aware of the identities of the financial supporters.

and

“When Blair selected his shortlist of peers he was aware of which ones had given loans. He was given a long list of names to choose from and personally selected which ones to put forward. The prime minister knew exactly what was going on with the loans from the very beginning.”

Corrupt

[Marcellus]

Can you smell the stench?

Yep, and it truly does stink.

[InsaneApache]

Oh dear, Tonys' mates might end up in the slammer.

Police 'could widen loans probe'

Police investigating complaints about secret loans to Labour say they have not ruled out extending their inquiry into claims of corruption.

The Metropolitan Police said last week it was examining allegations that laws on selling peerages had been broken.

Amid questions about big donors winning government business contracts or planning deals, Scotland Yard has told MPs the inquiry could widen.

I bet our leader gets away with it though, after all despite his £4, 000, 000 mortgage, he's just a regular guy. Yeah right.

PC Plod investigates

[InsaneApache]

The net closes in....

Former government adviser Des Smith has been arrested as part of a police probe into cash-for-honors allegations.

Mr Smith, a secondary school head, was a council member of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, which helps the government recruit sponsors.

Auntie (again)

I wonder if slimey Blair will get his collar felt?

[Duke Malcolm]

With any luck he shall... and what a perfect resignation that will be -- him being taking in cuffs by the Policemen outside the residence of the First Lord of the Treasury with the Second Lord cackling all the way to his new house...