Sunday, December 02, 2007
Abrahams Should Put Up or Shut Up
If David Abrahams has a whole host of letters thanking him for his munificence (via others) why doesn't he just publish them? I think people are now wise to his tactics to prove "I ain't done nuffink wrong, guv" and want him to put up or shut up. His ridiculous antics are now not just damaging the Labour Party, but politics in general. To that extent Gordon Brown and Jack Straw are right.
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32 comments:
Watching Blears on Marr's TV program - not the usual cute Red Panda - she is acting very tight lipped. Her cheeks are so taught you could use them as a drum. She is hiding something.
She has pointed to more tax payer funding for her party. Which the public don't want. She is saying dodnor-gate is bad for politics. She is also saying the Government needs to "sort it out and get on with running the country". Obviously been on the phone to Mr Bean.
It looks as though the Labour party are quite capable of destroying their party and damaging politics all on their own.
Don't agree with you. Matthew d'Ancona nails Brown's and Straw's own contemptible attempts to play the "ain't done nothing wrong" card by pinning it all on Blair, as if that excused the present situation. As for Abrahams, he is no doubt keeping some information to himself until the police interview him, sensibly IMHO.
The Labour Party is damaging itself, and the whole perception of politics in the public mind. Abrahams is more of a spectator at a bonfire, throwing the occasional bit of fuel on the blaze.
I just do not understand your post.
We want our politics sorting out. You are all becomming distant from reality. Now you are defending Labour as they are mrmbers of the wider club.
Get a grip.
Fair point Iain, but did anyone notice that the background colour, the lectern with two mics, and the camera angles of Mr Bean's pathetic lie limitation exercise yesterday, (and does that make dim Ms Harman a Beanie baby!?), were ripe for a remake of the Cadbury Gorilla advert! Go to it someone!
Gordon and all his little pals all seem to be the type to be "Coming in the air tonight" anyway!
To be honest, the only result of his actions is to make people realise what a sad lonely guy Abrahams is, who is trying to extend his "15 minutes" by giving small titbits of information to the feeding frenzy which is the media at the moment. I say, carry on, the longer he is in the media spotlight, the less likely it will be that Gordon and his minions can sweep this under the carpet...
"Beanie Baies" (Stanislavski/mk, above)
"Dash for Cash (Chris Grayling,yesterday)
I hope somebody is writing all these down...
I can understand Abrahams' anxiety at the prospect of being made a scapegoat and persona non gratis, and who can blame him for lining up a duck shoot.
I get the impression that he has been honest about his role, but could you say that about the rest?
Politics couldnt be more damaged in the UK if GB turned up in drag.
nulab have destroyed the trust of the people for decades Abrahams isnt the cause he is just unlucky it would have happened anyway.Blair started it with his whiter that white rubbish and gordon made it worse with his cleaning up politics rubbish.
Abrahams appears to be such a flaky twerp and a bit of a weirdo. He is the type of person that Labour spinners can discredit quite easily, especially with his fake wife crap!
He needs to have something concrete, or Labour and their media chums will wreck is credibility.
I quite like him.
@stanislavski
No, it makes here a Beanie Bag....
As far as I recall we still have freedom of speech.
Mr Abrahams is entitled to say what he likes.
Politicians o all shaes and hues can say what they like as well.
If we belive Mr Abrahams over politicians the reasons is quite siimple:
we don't know IF Abrahams is a liar.
We KNOW all politicians lie: we just don't know when and what about.
If politicians were brutally honest the situation would not arise.
They aint't.
Shoot the messenger - again...
No, Abrahams' 'antics' are damaging only to Labour who are looking incompetetnt, dissembling and wrong-footed at every turn. The wonderful reality that this hapless government is once again being investigated by the police is quite delicious, and I don't expect that 'Yates of the Yard' will allow himself to be turned over by the ridiculous 'Carmen O'Dowd' at the CPS a second time, so we can confidently expect some charges and trials this time round. All of which is excellent for the Tories as the Labour Party will be indelibly marked as corrupt and - better still - criminal in its actions, the irony being that their criminality derives from a law that their own government passed. You really couldn't make it up.
Abrahams is, quite unwittingly, doing sterling work and the longer it goes on, the more the Labour Party will unravel. Witless Wendy Alexander, the hapless Labour leader in Scotland, will be gone. Hopeless Harriet Harman will be gone. The Brown govt will be tainted for evermore. Gordon's moral compass' is totally lost and his reputation in tatters: he may have to go if there are criminal charges against members of his govt or officials of the party he 'leads'. Sound the trupmets, bang the cymbals.
re,cassander, Harriet Harman a "Bean Bag!" much wittier! Fabulous!
It's just when I saw that mournful sad old face, the two handed flailing after much ponderous thought, and the sudden release of furious activity, it reminded me of the Cadbury Gorilla, (or was that the other way around?).
There is a need to reform the funding system. I'm not opposed to state funding, but I am completely opposed to any system that would keep the current political hack gravy train in champagne, spin doctors and helicopters.
The only way to fund politics is to directly link funding to membership. Politicians may bleat about the lack of voter interest, but they have turned the voters away and if they needed to, they could entice them back.
I'd suggest 2 funding streams:
1. Ongoing funding - only funding sources allowed are membership subscriptions matched by the public purse.
2. Election funding - no direct funding at the national level, just the funding of advertisement boards, TV adverts and newspaper adverts. At the local level, funding for local hustings tied to membership as for 1 above.
I'd also ban political lobbying. It is time to rip the rotten heart out of our system and return politics to the grass-roots.
That's Labour's frame Iain - "We're just as bad as everyone so we should all sort it out".
The fact is that it is not the political parties or the law that is at fault but the Labour party who are bang to rights.
They have been cashing impermissable donations in Scotland. Avoiding a declaration of who the original donor was. Changing names on donor lists. Lying. Breaking the law.
They are bang to rights. Joining in their frame is a means to drag us all down.
Remember you criticised them for smearing Ashcroft when he had kept within the rules that they now flaunt.
www.ummahpulse.com has a lot to say about Jon Mendelsohn.
Ummahpulse is probably some sort of Muslim pressure group and anti-Zionist so I certainly would not applaud them but their citation of chapter and verse on Mendelsohn certainly seems credible.
For that reason I would not discount David Abrahams' story too easily.
Mendelsohn seems to go back quite someway as a fixer for Labour.
Like others here, Iain, I do not agree with you that this affair soils all political parties. This is purely Labour pollies at work lining their pockets - just like in the good old days.
Victor
I hope you aren't joining in Brown's desperate smear campaign against Abraham, Iain.
Yes the guy may seem a bit odd but so what, many of us have our little foibles. The fact is he was Labour's third biggest donor and gave them money via an illegal arrangement which, it's becoming increasingly clear, was known to several senior members of the party (perhaps even Brown himself?, though we don't know that, yet)
Having failed to bring him back onside and shut him up the Brownites are now trying to ruin him. I despair if Tories are going to help them in that purpose.
His article in the Independent on Sunday looks straightforward to me. He says "I will keep my detailed evidence for any enquiry". This seems very wise. His statements will then be verified or otherwise. So I cannot agree with your comment.
As others have said, the Labour Party/Government are damaging themselves. They are at fault – acting ‘illegally’ against their own legislation - and for those at the top of the heap to plead ignorance does – in David Cameron’s words – “beggar belief”.
The only solution is to sweep out this lot asap, then the Labour Party will have to ensure they act within the law – in future - whilst spending a long, long time in opposition.
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, it would take a Conservative heart of stone not to laugh. They have had this coming for a long time, and they fully deserve it.
Iain,
As we speak the ZANULAB dirt diggers are moving Heaven and Earth to smear the Tories ably assisted by the BBC!
Look at how they treated Warsi when Adam Mynott did a report on the 'teddybeargate' crisis.
Mynott couldnt have insulted her more if he spat in her face!
Gordon Brown will not and never has, hestitated to use dirty tricks and crooked methods to attack his political enemies. He is a cowards coward and I suspect he has been crawling round Cameron telling any old lie to get him to go easy! If Cameron falls for the horse manure creeping then he deserves all he gets in future.
Iain, have you become a "player". No wonder Guido is catching up.
How dare you castigate the best source of entertainment for years?
Re:December 02, 2007 2:47 PM
Don't trust Ummahpulse - they are a paranoid outfit who recently ran a vitriolic piece announcing that the BBC is run by anti-Muslim 'neo-conservatives' because Michael Grade is Jewish. Apart from being the only people in Britain who think the BBC is anti-Muslim, they didn't even seem to know that Grade was no longer Chair of the BBC. They are not a good source.
Disappointed in this post Iain. Are you under starter's orders already. Do you really believe in what you said, or has it been suggested to you that you should go easy.
We are being governed by a bunch of crooks, and it is very frustrating not being able to kick them out of office.
I don't see any mention of the old ties to the T-Dan Smith era?, they are very clear once you look under the stones.
Old Labour/New Labour have more in common than one would think.
There is a very nice balance between the drip..drip..drip of scandal in Scotland (with more to come once people join the dots on some politicians inexorable climb up the property ladder)and the drop..drip..drip death by a thousand cuts throes of a morally bankrupt "New Labour".
Perhaps there is a parallel scandal in the conservative/Lib-Dem inability to capitalise on the constant stream of scandal and incompetence.
Thus far the only political party to gain a clear dividend are the SNP.
(David Abrahams) ridiculous antics are now ... damaging ... politics in general.
You would not be attempting to deflect guilt away from your fellow pols, Iain, would you? Please remember that it's the elected legislators that are responsible for any and all damage to "Politics in General". The Tories did it, back when it was called Sleaze. Labour does it now and the Libs also do it. The trouble is that no party can field a person of real integrity to put in charge of funds.
Fortunately the internet is coming to the rescue. Followers of recent US elections will know of Howard Dean's campaign in 2004 and Ron Paul's current campaign. neither of these guys started with a party machine but they both funded they're campaigns via the net to extraordinary effect. Recently Ron Paul collected $4.2 million USD in one day. Concusion: political parties need not be funded at all! Unfortunately, parties are Darwinian entities that will attempt to survive at all costs. They will collect their rents from the state somehow.
Even more fortunately, it's time for a clear out and Democracy provides for it.
So Wendy Alexander is staying in post?
I doubt it. As has been suggested on the BBC, she is acting as a shield for GB and HH.
I suspect she will go late Tuesday or more likely, early Wednesday.
If she resigned today, there would have been two full days of momentum to gather for HH's resignation, before GB had to face PMQ's again on Wednesday.
With a resignation on Tuesday / Wednesday morning, there will not be time for that momentum to build before PMQ's with the current target being Wendy Alexander.
According to Brian Taylors Blog there is a meeting of the Labour Group of MSP's on Tuesday.
Look, anyone who gives £600,000 to any political party should be certified as mad but that does not mean that Abrahams/Martin does not have periods of lucidity. The letter he produced from Mendelsohn cannot be spun away.
It may be that all political parties have transgressed in the past but this is here and now and it the Government and Prime Minister of our country that are under the magnifier.
Stop finding common cause with them Iain.
Victor
We're 8 days into this scandal - quick update, please add as appropriate.
1. David/Dave Abrahams/Martin aged 53/63 recluse/bigmouth secretive/calls Newsnight live.
2. Ray Ruddick 190k donor to Labour who has never voted in his life and hates all politicians
3. Janet Kidd, secretary and serial donor of other people's money.
4. Janet Dunn - long time Conservative supporter who was registered as a Labour donor to the tune of £25k
5. Peter Watt - Labour's former chairman, most senior party official responsible for ensuring Labour complied with electoral law and regulatory requirements surrounding party donations. Made a terrible oversight. Sacrificed as a scandal firestop last Monday.
6. Jack Straw - incorrectly claimed that Peter Watt was the only person in the Labour Party who knew of the dodgy donations. Incorrectly portrayed 'Dave' Abrahams as a fringe character not well known in Labour circles.
7. Harriet Harman - in receipt of £5,000 from proxy donor Janet Kidd after her successful Deputy leadership campaign had finished. Subsequently proved to have illegally failed to declare loans of £40k related to this campaign.
8. Jon Mendelsohn - Gordon Brown's chief fund-raiser who wrote a hand-written note to Dave Abrahams that was sent on the Saturday when the scandal broke. Also donated £5k to Peter Hain's Deputy Leadership campaign which went unregistered. Now in a furious war of words with Abrahams about his endorsement of the secret donations.
9. Peter Hain - failed to register a donation - see above.
10. Chris Leslie - headed Gordon Brown's leadership campaign and is said by Harriet Harman to have suggested to her to accept money from Janet Kidd.
11. Baroness Jay - warned Hilary Benn off accepting money form Janet Kidd for as yet unexplained reasons
12. Jack Dromey - husband of Harriet Harman and Labour Treasurer - probably complicit in Harriet's illegal loan non-declaration but claims complete concealment in respect of everything else
13. Douglas Alexander - Transport Minister at the time when Abrahams was seeking planning permission.
14. Wendy Alexander - head of Labour in Scotland. Lied about not being aware of an illegal donation. Signed thank you letter caught her out. Desperately apologising and trying to tough it out.
15. Blair and Levy - all stems back to when they were in charge.
16. Lied on Newsnight. Refuted by Abrahams - see above.
17. Gordon Brown - failed to call the police despite known law-breaking. Mantra - "i know nothing"
Screw soft-peddling. We need to take this shower down.
What's going on?
Wife of unsentenced criminal, Black, Janet Daly, is also advocating soft peddling in today's Telegraph.Indicating Cameron had better be careful unless voters blame him for Brown's nervous breakdown. Such rubbish. If Brown has a nervous breakdown its his own fault. He can resign now and make his own way to the funny farm (as long as it's not in England).If he refuses to go then his sanity is up for grabs. No one will care who pushes him over the edge, as long as the cliff is at least 200m high.
For ten long years we have had to put up with that excuse for a human being. He has wrecked countless lives (Literally, the soldier who have died, or been grieviously wounded though keeping our armed forces short of the very tools of their trade, by releasing prisoners early to commit murder),devasted gold reserves and the best pension system in Europe.
No let gordon have his nervous breakdown before I have mine, even if it brings down a few Tory miscreants as well.
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