"We must be whiter than white" - Blair 1997

[wendigo100]

That is what he said one month before he became Prime Minister.

Yeah, right.

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

The New Labour hierarchy have been encouraging rich Luvvies not to make big donations to the party, but to make big loans on very preferential terms instead.

In this way, they circumnavigate new rules about naming donors, on the grounds that a business transaction is not a donation. So, when they get their peerage nominations, the donors (sorry, lenders) could slip in under the radar.

Except that the Standards Committee aren't as stupid as the Labour Hierarchy think they are. They spotted the scam and queried the nominations.

What makes it worse is that those new rules about donors were introduced by Tony Blair himself!

Also, it seems that the Labour party has two accounts - one that the general membership know about and another that they don't.

Blair + Money = Chaos

[ladymuck]

He actually said "whiter than white" and a do-good cop didn't pop round his house for a quite word about being a closet rascist? Oh sorry, that was before he brought in all those extra 'powers' to enable a police state.

[AlfredJPruffock]

A Whiter Shade of Pale perhaps ?

Tony was feeling kinda seasick
but the crowd called out for more

The room was humming harder
as the ceiling flew away

When we called out for another drink
Mr Brown brought a tray

And so it was that later
as Pruffock told his tale
that Tonys face, at first just ghostly,
turned a whiter shade of pale

He said, 'There is no reason
and the truth is plain to see.'

But I wandered through my list of MPs
and would not let them be

one of Cheri Blairs vestal virgins
who were leaving for the coast

and for WMDs my eyes were open
they might have just as well've been closed

If music be the food of love
then Saddam is its queen

and likewise if behind is in front
then NL dirt in truth is clean

[DimPrawn]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4815552.stm

Labour was secretly loaned almost £14m ahead of the last election - more than twice as much as previously thought, it has been suggested to the BBC.
BBC Newsnight's Political Editor Martha Kearney said she had been told the figure was £13,950,000.


Sleazey Money. No wonder they can afford to bribe the media and generate 50 megatons of spin per second.

[AlfredJPruffock]

How about this for Whiter than White , remember this next time you pay Tax to Hector

A provision exists in the UK for writing off tax bills where "strict application of the law would be oppressive and unfair".

Charity begins at BP

It's rarely used, but the government – very charitably – used it to write off £1.2 billion (approx US$ 2 billion) from the tax bill of BP (British Petroleum), Britain's richest company. (Daily Telegraph, 11/1/06)

[scotspine]

but it's all about fairness isn't it?

http://www.bytestart.co.uk/content/s...ue-threa.shtml

[zathras]

Labour was secretly loaned £14m

Labour was secretly loaned £14m

The Labour Party has received a total of £13,950,000 in commercial loans from individuals, a spokesman has confirmed.
The figure is more than three times the amount previously thought.
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BBC2 Newsnight political editor Ms Kearney said there had been "deep-seated suspicion of these loans in the Labour Party for some time" and the practice had been "banned" under previous general secretaries David Triesman and Margaret McDonagh.

There were "various theories" as to why the ban had been lifted ahead of the last election, she added, including the fact that the party had been short of cash.
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Former Labour deputy leader Lord Hattersley has said that he is "horrified" by the sums being quoted.

"It all demonstrates that the Labour Party leadership is too obsessed with the world of money. The Labour Party should not behave in this way," he told Newsnight.
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On Thursday, Tony Blair admitted he had not told the Lords appointment committee three of his candidates for working peerages had given the party loans - which under the current rules did not have to be made public.

Mr Blair said he took full responsibility for this and said he had made a mistake by not telling Labour's Treasurer Jack Dromey about the loans.
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The prime minister also said he wanted an independent figure appointed to advise ministers on their financial interests - a move No 10 had rejected in the wake of the controversy surrounding the financial affairs of Tessa Jowell and her husband David Mills.
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Meanwhile, Mr Dromey is carrying out an internal inquiry into the affair, which is due to report next week.

The Conservatives said they would implement the recommendation of the Electoral Commission and voluntarily disclose details, including the source, of any future loans they received.
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Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party has called on the Director of Public Prosecutions to use an 81-year-old law to investigate the row.

[AlfredJPruffock]

Those whom would dare criticise the Glorious NL Party are concealing Weapons of Mass Destruction.

A message from the PM to Wendigo

I did indeed say back then that we must be Whiter than White.
But that was then this is now.

Does that make sense ?

Yes it does.
No it doesnt.
Yes it does.


There.

Perfect.

[The Lone Gunman]

Forgive my ignorance, but just how would a political party pay off a loan?

I assume the party has rules about members subscriptions and what they can be used to cover.

[scotspine]

it was strongly suggested this morning on r4 today programme by a labour peer [lord wassname] that these loans would simply be allowed to disappear off the radar and eventually be written off...