A murkier shade of yellow
Breaking news tonight, first revealed exclusively by Iain “scoop” Dale, is that major Lib Dem donor Michael Brown has been arrested on suspicion of fraud. Whilst they have quite rightly said that the charges have nothing to do with them, there can be no doubt that if this been any other Party the Lib Dems would have been making huge political capital out of it.
Iain Dale’s blog has some comments on it about the circumstances in which the donation may have to be repaid. I would take this a step further. Whatever the legal rights and wrongs, if Michael Brown is found guilty of a £26m fraud from around the time he made the donation, is there any way, morally, that the Lib Dems could keep the money? I have images in my mind of Ming Campbell scrabbling around in his sofa trying to find a few million.
As I suggested last week, it does seem that the Lib Dem’s “whiter than white” image is becoming justifiably tarnished. Whilst no-one has been found guilty of anything yet, this cannot do them any good (nor the reputation of British politics).
Iain Dale’s blog has some comments on it about the circumstances in which the donation may have to be repaid. I would take this a step further. Whatever the legal rights and wrongs, if Michael Brown is found guilty of a £26m fraud from around the time he made the donation, is there any way, morally, that the Lib Dems could keep the money? I have images in my mind of Ming Campbell scrabbling around in his sofa trying to find a few million.
As I suggested last week, it does seem that the Lib Dem’s “whiter than white” image is becoming justifiably tarnished. Whilst no-one has been found guilty of anything yet, this cannot do them any good (nor the reputation of British politics).
posted by Martin Curtis at 8:17 PM
6 Comments:
Two words: Asil Nadir.
Did the Tories ever give his donation back?
Hi Martin,
I just found you blog courtesy of RightLinks. It seems we have exactly the same agenda.
I will add you to my blog roll a bit later.
You can find me at Politicalog.
Cheers
Allan
Asil Nadir?
Could you go back any further? Did you look at Disraeli's record?
If you must comment anonymously, at least say something with credibility.
As opposed to hypocrisy in your case?
Hypocrisy?.
Just 5 days ago I talked about:
"The impact of a decade and a half of reported misconduct of National politicians" in an article where I criticised my own party for commenting on a nothing story. (although emerging information suggests this might not be as innocent as I first thought).
I don't ignore the contribution that aspects of 1990s Conservatism played in the reputation of British Politics. I also accept that there has to be an element of bias in what I say, not because of anything deliberate, but perhaps subconsciously because I am a Conservative. There is very little about the Conservatives as they are now that compares with what we are seeing from New Labour and, increasingly, the Lib Dems.
Please feel free to criticise - but tell me where the Spin is in Cameron's Conservatives. Don't give me this outdated Asil Nadir rubbish and expect it to have credibility.
Come off it! It's all spin and no policy! And what's all this "increasingly the Lib Dems" bollocks?
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