Police to probe into Labour's 'donations for honours' |
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Wed, 22 Mar 2006 12:25
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LONDON: The ''donations for honours'' issue has been taken over by the British police, which said Tuesday it will investigate whether the party had offered Lordships to wealthy businessmen in exchange for large monetary loans.
In a statement, the police said it has received three complaints about the party under section 1 of the Honours Act 1925 and these allegations are being investigated by the Specialist Crime Directorate of the Metropolitan Police Service.
This is the most disconcerting development for prime minister Tony Blair in a row that tended to tarnish his personal image, amid calls for his resignation, as well as the party's standing.
The legal provision prescribes jail term for anyone foound to sell noble titles or accepts them for cash.
The police revealed that one of the complaints was received from a M.P. belonging to the Scottish National Party, Angus MacNeil. It did not divulge the identities of the other two complainants.
The police complaint follows statements in the public by various people last week saying the party had offered Lordships to at least three wealthy businessmen, who had offered loans to the party in support of its election efforts.
The party had confirmed that it had pressed for the nominations and that it had accepted the loans, but said there are no links between the two. The concerned nominees got it on the basis of merit and not because they had given money to the party.
The issue got complicated because the treasurer of the party and even some of the senior ministers made public announcements that they were not privy to such transactions and that they would prefer a full-scale inquiry into the whole issue. Party treasurer Jack Dromey had said he would hold an inquiry and submit the report to the national executive committee.
In an attempt to defuse the situation, the party announced Monday the names of 12 men who had given around 14 million pounds as loan to the party for its election work and the list included names of four people, whom the party had nominated for peerages.
The party maintins that the prime minister or the party did not break any rules as the existing law in the country stipulates that only donations to the party need to be made public, whereas loans, which are repayable need not be. The government said it is enacting new regulations governing donations and loans in order to overcome the inadequacies.
The party's national executive, at its meeting Tuesday, said the issue of party funding needed to be addressed and the system made more transparent so that the public had complete confidence in it.
In an effort to muster support for Blair, home secretary Charles Clarke questioned the intention of Dromey in making the issue public. Calrke said any competent treasurer would look at the finances of the organisation they are involved with."It should be part of the job to look at the finances. If he wasn't asking that question, you would have to ask how well he was doing that job."
Meanwhile, it has come to light that most of the members who spoke at the national executive committee condemned the way No 10 had kept the committee in the dark about the loans. It had also criticised the prime minister for handing fund-raising powers to his friend Lord Levy and decided from now "the appropriate structures" and the party's "internal democracy" would be respected.
The police investigation will be carried out by deputy assistant commissioner John Yates of the Scotland Yard.
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