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Peter Watt 'Walks' While Gordon Brown Admits Labour Party Donations Were Unlawful
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Wave bye bye to Peter Watt (below), baby faced whizkid General Secretary of The Labour Party, and up till today seen by many as a still rapidly rising, young New Labour super star.
Oh yeah, sure it is.
Please pull the other one pals, it's got bells on.
Sounds great, Gordon, but we're sorry to have to say that we've heard it all before, Mr Brown. Ever heard of a certain old saying?
"Same old, same old"?
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Wave bye bye to Peter Watt (below), baby faced whizkid General Secretary of The Labour Party, and up till today seen by many as a still rapidly rising, young New Labour super star.
Brown admits donations 'unlawful'And to think that some are still seeking to persuade the public that governmental 'sleaze' is a thing of the past, eh?
Mr Brown said the money was not lawfully declared
Gordon Brown has said donations to the Labour Party by a property developer through middlemen were "completely unacceptable" and would be repaid.
He told reporters he had had "no knowledge" of more than £600,000 [$1.2 million approx] of donations from David Abrahams, which could "not be justified".
(snip)
Labour's general secretary Peter Watt resigned on Monday after it emerged that Mr Abrahams donated the money to the party over four years, under three associates' names.
Oh yeah, sure it is.
Please pull the other one pals, it's got bells on.
Asked if he knew Mr Abrahams, Mr Brown said: "I am sure I may have met him but I have no recollection of any conversations about any of these issues.Hmm. So, let's see if we've got this story straight, eh? Mistakes have been made and changes are needed, eh?
"I had no knowledge until Saturday night, either of the donations or of the practice which had grown up where they were improperly declared to the Electoral Commission. No knowledge at all."
He said mistakes had been made and changes were needed to ensure Labour imposed "the highest standards in future".
Sounds great, Gordon, but we're sorry to have to say that we've heard it all before, Mr Brown. Ever heard of a certain old saying?
"Same old, same old"?
Acting Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable said that "an enormous can of worms had been opened up" and the government should have brought in new party funding regulations.Read the rest this report and see a list of names, dates and large amounts of dosh dished out.
"It's a whole sleazy area; it needs cleaning up because of lack of public confidence, " he said.
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Labels: David Abrahams, Electoral Commission, Gordon Brown, Harriet Harman, Hilary Benn, Labour Party, New Labour, Peter Watt
posted by Richard at Tuesday, November 27, 2007
4 Comments:
Proof yet again [if it were needed] that all power corrupts.
One wonders how much Tony Blair knew of these matters, given the money changed hands over four years. Apparently, the British Parliament is descending into a similar murky pool of politician/lobbyist relationships as that of its unscrupulous cousin across the pond.
As much as it is clearly wrong for political parties and industry to have these secret trysts, it is worth remembering that until very recently this was simply the norm, an old convention that goes back as far as the party system. In fact, it is exactly this sort of private, back-slapping, pocket-lining, vested interest politics that makes parties powerful and viable in the first place.
That these matters are even openly discussed at all is a great leap forward for open democracy and a crushing blow for corruption.
Christ, I almost sound like an optimist.
So young Watt has taken the fall - but it ain't over yet. Now some of the bigger boys are being outed.
It has also emerged that Labour's chief fundraiser Jon Mendelsohn was told about it last month, but did not tell anyone else - he said he wanted to sort out the matter with Mr Abrahams and explain it to him personally.
During heated exchanges at prime minister's questions, Mr Cameron said the prime minister's explanation - that he had no knowledge of the nature of the donations, "beggars belief" and "goes to questions of the prime minister's own integrity".
More at link.
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