UKIP mis-using Lords facilities for fundraising?
UKIP Peer Lord Pearson of Rannoch has been sending out invites to a party fundraising dinner.
Nothing unusual about that.
Except the £200 a ticket dinner ("cheques payable to the UK Independence Party"), which appears to be to raise dosh for the June 4 Euro Elections, was held in the Cholmondley Room in the Lords and the invites were sent out on House of Lords stationery. Even the reply envelope was a Lords one.
UKIP in the comments say it isn't a breach of the Rules of the House. It should be as it's using facilities taxpayers pay for for party fundraising purposes.
Here's the letter and reply slip:
posted by Luke Akehurst at 2:25 pm
17 Comments:
And of course Labour never misuses Parliament's facilities nor misappropriates taxpayers money...
Gordon Brown
Jacqui Smith
Derek Draper
I'd like to see you defend that unholy triumvirate, especially Jacqui "my home is my sister's spare room, not the lovely house where I live with my husband and children" Smith.
Go on.
You know you want to..
2:52 pm, February 26, 2009
Derek has never, to my knowledge, been accused of misusing Parliament's facilities nor misappropriating taxpayers money - he has not worked in parliament since 1996.
3:31 pm, February 26, 2009
And the other two...
How telling that you choose not to defend them against my charge!
On Derek, is it right for someone to "sex up" their cv?
It's a bit like saying you went to Oxford when in fact it was Oxford Brookes.
Very shabby. Very poor indeed.
4:13 pm, February 26, 2009
Funny how some people always try to change the topic - Michael, two wrongs do not make a right, and anything you throw at a small number of Labour MP's does not reduce the culpability of the BNP-in-blazers brigade
4:27 pm, February 26, 2009
On the day when Gordon Brown is found guilty of incorrectly claiming rent for a room which he had sub-let, is misuse of House of Lords notepaper the best you can do?
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmstnprv/279/27902.htm
I agree it's not about tit-for-tat - your abuse is bigger than his abuse - but it is about absolute value.
To me £116k for Jacqui Smith trumps Spelmans having a nanny on Commons expenses and both trump misuse of notepaper.
As the saying goes - don't sweat the small stuff.
4:32 pm, February 26, 2009
At least this chap never killed anyone or threatened to march 10,000 Muslims on Parliament, unlike, er, the odious Labour Peer "Lord" Ahmed!
4:43 pm, February 26, 2009
I can confirm that Black Rod's office has repeated his advice to Lord Pearson, first requested before the invitations were sent out, that no rules have been broken.
5:52 pm, February 26, 2009
Really comparable with hiding secrets about the invasion of an independent state.
6:45 pm, February 26, 2009
Yes, not comparable in that liberating Iraq from Saddam was morally right and using parliament as a party fundraising venue is morally wrong.
6:54 pm, February 26, 2009
For viewers with a strong stomach I suggest you click on the name Gawain Towler, and follow his/her details back, and click into his/her fellow bloggers.
A right collection of candidates for the men in white coats to take into care.
GW
8:49 pm, February 26, 2009
"Yes, not comparable in that liberating Iraq from Saddam was morally right and using parliament as a party fundraising venue is morally wrong."
Luke - are you for real ?
So for invading Iraq you get a pat on the back and treated to a couple of rounds at your local.
For using parliament as a party fundraising venue you get banged up in Belmarsh for 15 years.
9:34 pm, February 26, 2009
So far Luke hasn't actually given a shred of proof that UKIP has broken any rules....plenty of proof though that various Labour mp's have abused their rights.
As a party Labour probably are now as corrupt as the last conservative government. Strange what power does to people.
9:58 pm, February 26, 2009
It feels like a Tory government right now. My Company was privatised in 96, this year we have made a 50 million pound profit and the bastards have announced a job reduction of 660. This same company donate to the NLP and have are based in Perth. So its bloody obvious that the NLP will not be on the side of the workers as we now have a ballot for industrial action! Labour is scum and anti working class!
11:41 pm, February 26, 2009
How did you get a copy of this letter Luke?
I don't know how the Tories and the LDs fundraise, but I am assuming it is the same way we do it in the Labour Party, i.e. printing out invites on party headed paper. So Luke is right to say this is a misappropriation of taxpayer’s money.
Gawain, do you believe in state funding of political parties? By the way Gareth , as you suggested I had a look at Gawain site and his links (one of which confirms his sex you’ll be glad to know), I don’t know about a strong stomach, maybe as strong sense of humour! I'm only kidding Gawain ;) I was just wondering where in Scotland did you stand?
11:04 am, February 27, 2009
So in the run up to the war there were no cabinet discussions other than a Blair and Brown attempting to prevent a debate.
Clare Short, spills the beans:
Details surrounding two crucial meetings on the eve of the conflict were laid bare for the first time yesterday when former Cabinet Minister Clare Short, who was present at both, gave a full account of what happened.
She told The Mail on Sunday the main reason for the ‘scandalous’ decision not to publish the minutes was not to protect confidential discussions about the war, but to cover up the fact there was no such discussion.
At the last Cabinet meeting, no debate on the legality of the war was allowed and Tony Blair, then Prime Minister, said brusquely: ‘That’s it.’
The official records would also put an end to claims by Gordon Brown’s supporters that, in private, he had grave doubts about the war, said Ms Short. In fact, he led the Cabinet campaign to accuse France of sabotaging British and American attempts to win United Nations support for the attack on Saddam Hussein.
Somehow I think the governments days are over.
11:47 pm, February 28, 2009
No, Iraq was not liberated - it was invaded by those who were not invited to do so by the legitimate opposition within Iraq. The likely future for Iraq will be communal tensions between the different factions within the country, and the position of women and minorities is largely worse than it was under Saddam Hussein. What a great example of 'New' Labour 'morality'!
The more you spout this nonsense, the more people will see yet another reason not to vote Labour. Or don;t you want some of those votes back to make up for the loss of the 'aspirational'?
Incidentally, now 'New' Labour is tired and old, isn't it about time for another name? I reckon the one which might suit the few remaining 'true believers' is Conservative! It does have a ring to it, don't you think?
2:12 am, March 01, 2009
For those who know a little about Iraq will tell you that it has always been a tinder box. Lots of different factions and all looking for power.
Saddam was ruthless and put there by the west to keep law and order. Unfortunately the relationship broke down for some reason that we will probably never find out.
While I think removing him was a good thing, the way in which it done was so wrong. We basically flattened a very wealthy and well developed country. This created a massive problem as without a good infrastructure it was virtually impossible to keep the peace.
People quickly got tired of not having running water or electricity and blamed our troops for the problems. The support we needed was lost and transfered to the various militia that ended up killing more troops than we actually lost during the invasion.
We were far too eager to shell and bomb without thinking about the consequences.
8:57 pm, March 01, 2009
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