Wherever the BBC licence fee goes…
…it doesn’t go into the coffee at its Millbank HQ. A cup of coffee was probably deserved after agreeing to appear on such a late show as the Tony Livesey show on 5 Live, getting back to my flat at 1am after taking part in a live phone in. Coffee was rotten though.
Highlights of the evening were listening to two top BBC political journalists arguing about the Ashcroft story, with the one who struggles to conceal his/her leanings practically trotting out the Tory line…nil desperandum. In addition, sitting in the waiting room with Michael Heseltine as the latest breaking news about Ashcroft came through on the television was quite an experience. I can only hope to one day be able to glower like his noble lordship glowered tonight. And the ‘Spitting Image’ puppet was remarkably accurate…
On the subject of Ashcroft, news reports today suggest that the NHS – nationally – is heading for a £130m overspend this year. Almost unbelievably, Chris Huhne estimates that Michael Ashcroft has avoided paying £127m in tax to the Exchequer…
Draw your own conclusions.
Filed under: Uncategorized | 9 Comments
This horse isn’t just dead, it’s been been processed at the glue factory.
You wish, you really do wish…
Is the factory in Belize?
Oh, go on then. I’ll bite.
Let’s be honest, Labour’s attacks on Lord Ashcroft aren’t based on any lofty principles. If they were, they would be asking the same questions of Labour supporting non-doms.
To wit….
Lord Paul – £69,250 in donations to Labour, including £45,000 to Gordon Brown’s leadership campaign. A pension fund raider, a close friend of Gordon Brown and appointed to the Privy Council last summer.
Lakshmi Mittal – £4.125 million in donations to Labour.
Sir Ronald Cohen – £2.55 million in donations to Labour. Cohen was appointed chair of the Social Investment Taskforce, which was announced by the then Chancellor, a certain Right Hon. Gordon Brown MP.
Sir Christopher Ondaatje – £1.7 million in donations to Labour.
Sir Gulam Noon – £532,826 in donations to Labour.
William Bollinger (William Hague’s “champagne socialist” – nice touch!) – £510,725 in donations to Labour.
Mahmoud Khayami – £985,000 in donations to Labour including £5,000 to Hazel Blears’ deputy leadership campaign.
Dr David Potter – £90,000 in a donation to Labour.
On reflection, you’re quite right, Jamie. The horse is alive and well.
Just watch where it kicks.
But none of these are alleged to be the single biggest political donor of all time and none of them were given peerages after giving specific undertakings before becoming a peer…
Chris Huhne estimates that Ashcroft has avoided paying £127m in taxes to the exchequer. This year’s estimated NHS overspend is £130m.
Now, that’s perspective.
I’ll respond in full after attending to real life asap.
I can only hope to one day be able to glower like his noble lordship glowered tonight. And the ‘Spitting Image’ puppet was remarkably accurate…
LOL.
You should have been there…
Gordon Prentice MP is a hero:
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2010-03-03a.282.1&s=speaker%3A10487#g293.1
“Now, if you will allow me, Mr. Cook, I will whistle through some material from Andrew Stephenson, who will probably be the MP in a couple of months. I have a copy of his leaflet “Andrew Stephenson Reports Back”, which has just come out. I also have the February and March edition of his “Pendle Matters”, which the Royal Mail delivered to all 37,000 households in Pendle; it talks about the “Year of Change” and runs to four pages. Another edition, which was delivered free to 37,000 households, talks about “Putting Pendle on the Map” and has a picture of the Leader of the Opposition. That is all since Christmas.
The December 2009 edition of “Pendle Matters”, which was delivered to 37,000 households, says, “Shop Local”-unfortunately, it was printed in Guildford. I also have the October 2009 and August 2009 editions of “Pendle Matters”, which were delivered to every household in my constituency. The headline in one edition reads “Cameron spells out a Plan for Change”. The headline in another, which was delivered to 37,000 households, talks about “Transport in the North”. Another edition has the headline “Tackling the Credit Crunch” and runs to four pages.”
“I do not want to test the patience of colleagues, so let me just say that I have too many leaflets to go through; there are three years’ worth. It is not just “Pendle Matters” that is being delivered; there is loads of other stuff as well. There are six-page booklets, which look like Hello! magazine, the ads in the local papers and so on.
Let me come to my peroration. I think I have demonstrated conclusively that the next election is being bought. Election spending should be controlled; if it is not, it will be totally unfair, and rich people will be able to determine who sits in this House.”
In a free democracy, rich people have the freedom to donate to political parties – though there can be no level playing field unless trade unions are also free to give politically.
The Ashcroft thing is different, though.
A fabulously wealthy tax exile has £120 million sitting in a bank in Belize. This may indeed be legal – and I suppose some people might also think it is moral, though I can guarantee you it isn’t biblical.
But this man gave an undertaking to parliament 10 years ago that he would pay this £120 million to the Exchequer and he failed to honour this undertaking. But, hey, maybe in these difficult economic times, he couldn’t afford it?
He could, however, afford to bankroll the Tory Party – the extent of which can be seen from Gordon Prentice MP’s experience in Pendle. I don’t think I’ve ever received that much political mailings – and I was living in Birmingham Edgbaston before the 1997 election. There is no moral difference between what is going on in Pendle and what used to happen in “Rotten Boroughs” before the 1832 Great Reform Act. These constituencies are being bought – pure and simple.
This party that Ashcroft is bankrolling is promising an “age of austerity”, though clearly not for Lord Ashcroft who, I’m quite sure, has put more than enough to one side for a “rainy day”. The Shadow Chancellor of this party says “we’re all in this together”. Everyone, that is, except Lord Ashcroft and chums.
So…under a Tory government we can expect rapid and deep public spending cuts which will undoubtedly result in 1,000′s of job losses. Areas such as Copeland – where the majority of the workforce receive their salary either directly or indirectly from the public purse – can expect to be hit particularly hard.
Meanwhile…Lord Ashcroft can go back to sunning himself in Belize, safe in the knowledge that he’s bought a government that won’t touch his savings account. How many public sector workers could be kept in work with that £120 million? Do the maths.
At church this morning the bible reading was (unbelievably):
Treasures in Heaven
Matthew 6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The retired clergyman who delivered the sermon made no reference to Ashcroft.
The lay reader who read the intercessions prayed that God would bring people into parliament who would bring this country back to “Christian values”.
Is it me or is there a shortage of “joined-up thinking” here?