[guide.chat] news david cameron thief

From: vanessa <qwerty1234567a@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "GUIDE CHAT" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2012 08:36:45 +0100
Cameron admits donors came to private Downing Street dinners as police 
investigate scandal
ANDY MCSMITH    MONDAY 26 MARCH 2012
  
David Cameron was under increasing pressure last night after he was forced to 
admit that the Conservative Party's millionaire backers had enjoyed private 
dinners in Downing Street.

Labour will try to force a minister to come to the Commons today to explain why 
the Tory co-treasurer, Peter Cruddas, was recorded boasting of the access a 
donor could buy for £250,000.

It was confirmed that Mr Cameron and his wife hosted a "small number" of 
dinners in his taxpayer-funded Downing Street home. Guests included Michael 
Spencer, the international trader and former Tory treasurer. Police are also 
looking at whether any law on political donations has been broken.

Mr Cruddas resigned as soon as the scandal broke, and his remarks were disowned 
by senior Tories, who dismissed him as a newcomer to politics who did not 
understand the system and was making boastful promises that he would never have 
been allowed to fulfil. Mr Cameron told the BBC: "What happened is completely 
unacceptable. This is not the way that we raise money in the Conservative 
Party. It shouldn't have happened. It's quite right that Peter Cruddas has 
resigned. I will make sure there is a proper party inquiry to make sure this 
can't happen again."

But Labour politicians refused to accept that Mr Cruddas, who has himself given 
hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Tories, was genuinely ignorant about the 
relationship between political influence and party donations.

Mr Cruddas, the founder of an online trading company, Currency Management 
Consultants, was recorded by undercover journalists from The Sunday Times 
promising that a £250,000 donation would be rewarded by dinners with David 
Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne.

He claimed that some donors had dined privately in 10 Downing Street with David 
and Samantha Cameron, and said issues raised by "premier league" donors would 
be passed to "the policy committee". It is assumed he meant the No 10 Policy 
Unit.

The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, claimed that the remarks raised issues too 
serious to be handled by an internal Tory party investigation. "There needs to 
be a proper independent investigation into what influence was sought, what 
influence was gained and what impact it had," he said.

"The independent investigation should look at what happened at the Downing 
Street policy unit, because apparently offers were made or cash was paid so 
that the people donating money would be able to have access to it. I think 
people are bound to ask questions about whether policy is being made in the 
national interest or the Conservative Party's interest. That's why these 
allegations are so serious."

Last night Lord Fink, who returns as the principal treasurer for the Tories, 
said: "Since I became the co-treasurer of the party in 2008, there has been 
absolutely no question of donors being able to use their donations to influence 
policy or to gain improper or special access to senior politicians.

"Peter Cruddas' comments are in my view entirely without basis in fact and the 
approach to fundraising they imply is wholly improper. It is not possible in 
any way to buy privileged access to ministers."

The former Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, said yesterday that 
the Cruddas affair had strengthened the case for the state funding of political 
parties, though other leading Liberal Democrats have shied away from asking for 
greater taxpayer subsidies during a recession.


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[guide.chat] news david cameron thief

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