LABOUR'S DESPERATE DIVERSION TACTIC
Responding to Labour's desperate attack on a day when they have failed to
take action against three MPs facing criminal charges for theft an SNP
spokesperson said:
"On the day when three Labour MPs are facing criminal charges, Labour
look utterly ridiculous in mumping about lunches which have not taken
place and donations which have not been received. It is a desperate
diversionary tactic.
"Labour's hypocrisy knows no bounds. Their own website advertises
paid-for breakfasts, lunches and dinners with access to the Prime
Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer! Iain Gray seems to know
nothing about his own party.
"Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon have invited the Corporate Body to give a
clear ruling on the use of the Scottish Parliament restaurant. By
definition, there can have been no breach because there have been no
lunches.
"It is absurd for Labour to refer to Sir Alistair Graham, given that
Labour MSP Lord George Foulkes was bad-mouthing him on the same
programme!"
The position set out by the Scottish Parliament on Thursday - stating
that the restaurant must not be used for 'any other purpose' other than
parliamentary duties - potentially puts every MSP in breach, because it
would clearly prevent it being used for lunches auctioned by charities
and local organisations, which MSPs of all parties do on a regular
basis, and where there can be no control over who wins such a lunch.
Equally, lunch with family, friends, acquaintances, party supporters, a
trade unionist, or any other person not there on 'parliamentary duties,
would all fall foul of this position.
1. Details of opportunities to spend time with leading figures from
opposition parties and the auctioning of lunches for charities are below.
1. Labour
a. Gordon Brown and the Labour Conference
Their own website is advertising conference dinners with the leader as
guest of honour.
From the preamble on their own website there does not appear to be any bar
on attending this meal.
The Conference Dinner
The conference dinner is a highlight of the annual conference with the
Leader of the Labour Party as the guest of honour. The dinner is a hugely
popular and well attended event.
This year's conference dinner will take place in the Midland Hotel in the
secure site on Tuesday 28 September.
For all table and ticket options, please contact Helen Naylor on 020 7783
1377 or e-mail development@new.labour.org.uk
http://www.labour.org.uk/
Then there is their Business Forum on the same website:
Business Forum tickets are available with a two-day or a full-week pass,
and the package includes breakfast and lunch.
Business Forum ticket-holders are also welcome to attend the
invitation-only Business Reception on Monday evening. Last year the
Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Business Secretary both spoke at the
packed reception.
For ticket options, please contact Helen Naylor on 020 7783 1377 or e-mail
development@new.labour.org.uk
http://www.labour.org.uk/
b. Patricia Hewitt
Only today it has been reported that Patricia Hewitt was booking rooms in
the House of Commons for a company she is a director of:
Patricia Hewitt twice booked rooms for BT in the months before she was
made a senior director at the firm, earning £59,000 a year.
In July 2009, the former health secretary became senior independent
director for BT, giving her the £59,000 a year on top of her Commons
salary. She had joined the board of BT early in 2008.
Miss Hewitt, who is paid £45,000 by Boots the Chemist, also held a dinner
for a group described as the 'Voice of Pharmacy'.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
c. John Denham
The current Communities Secretary was reported hosting an event for a
company he received a consultancy fee from.
John Denham used banqueting facilities to host an event for a company in
the same year that he received a one-off consultancy fee of £5,000 from
them.
The communities secretary held the breakfast event for insurance firm AXA
in 2006, when he was a backbencher, just weeks before registering a
one-off payment from them for advice.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
2. Tories
a. Scottish Tory Party
Scotland's Conservatives have received a major boost to their Holyrood
campaign, receiving £700,000 from their largest-ever fundraising event
while Labour's coffers appear to have been hit by the cash for peerages
controversy… last September at the Glasgow Hilton Hotel, David Cameron
attended a plush £2500-a-table fundraiser organised by Sir Jack Harvie,
the Glasgow construction tycoon and philanthropist.
Speakers included Lord Forsyth, the former Conservative Scottish
secretary, and local businesses were featured in an inch-thick 200-page
glossy brochure crammed with advertisements from selling liqueur to
foreign holiday rentals.
Ticket sales prior to the event raised £200,000 - an amount registered
with the commission in the third quarter of 2006 - while subsequent sales
and other spin-offs raised a further £500,000.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/
b. David Cameron
The Tories very own UK website advertises a “Leader's Group”.
Annual membership: £50,000 Chairman: Andrew Feldman
The Leader’s Group is the premier supporter Group of the Conservative
Party. Members are invited to join David Cameron and other senior figures
from the Conservative Party at dinners, post-PMQ lunches, drinks
receptions, election result events and important campaign launches.
http://www.conservatives.com/
c. Michael Gove
The Tories education spokesman Michael Gove and the MSG Group
Last year, Tory education spokesman Michael Gove hosted a '21 year
celebration dinner' for MSG group - which has donated more than £8,600 to
his constituency organisation.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
d. Jeremy Hunt
The Tory culture spokesman Jeremy Hunt and a company he founded and owns
Tory culture spokesman Jeremy Hunt held a reception in September 2006 on
the Commons terrace for Hotcourses, a company he founded and owns.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
3. LibDems
a. Charles Kennedy and Party Conference
2002 – Charles Kennedy had to deny ‘Cash for Access’ at his party conference.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Charles Kennedy, today denied his party was
planning "cash for access" deals under which businessmen would get
privileged access to party figures in return for payments.
The approach, in the form of a brochure sent to lobbyists and companies
ahead of the Liberal Democrat conference at Brighton, was normal activity
carried out by every political party for their conferences, he claimed.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
b. Nicol Stephen
Nicol Stephen’s links with a local businessman were a matter of controversy.
SCOTTISH Liberal Democrat leader Nicol Stephen's re-election campaign is
being bankrolled by a businessman previously investigated for tax fraud
and whose firm was described as "cynical and insensitive".
The enterprise minister's local party has accepted nearly £4000 in
donations from Aberdeen-based Ian Suttie, who laid off nearly 200 workers
at textile firm Richards in 2004 without pay or redundancy money.
Suttie was slammed by an industrial tribunal and later dubbed
"irresponsible" by an Aberdeen sheriff after a separate investigation into
his tax affairs.
Critics have called on Stephen to make a statement about his links to the
entrepreneur, whom the LibDem leader has praised in the Scottish
parliament.
The donations were revealed in the Electoral Commission's latest round of
financial disclosures.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/
4. Charity Dinners
All the other UK parties in the Scottish Parliament have offered tours or
dinner with an MSP in the Scottish Parliament and its restaurant.
1.The then Culture and Sport Minister, Labour MSP Frank McAveety donated
"lunch for four with a tour of Holyrood" at a auction at the Preston Lodge
rugby club. Scotsman - 1st June 2004
2. Tory MSP John Lamont offered a tour and lunch in an auction for a
motorcycle club in Kelso.
http://www.clubinthepub.co.uk/
3. Former LibDem leader Nicol Stephen offered a tour and lunch in an
auction for a Michigan charity.
http://www.michigan.gov/
4. Moray Firth Radio's Cash for Kids Auction offered a visit to the
Scottish Parliament for 2 donated by LibDem MSP Jamie Stone.
http://www.mfr.co.uk/Article.
5. Moray Firth Radio's Boss' Bargain Basement offered a tour of the
Scottish Parliament donated by Tory MSP Mary Scanlon.
http://www.mfr.co.uk/Article.
6. LibDem MSP Jim Tolson offered a prize of lunch or dinner for two
accompanying him to the Private Member’s Dining Room at the Scottish
Parliament with the raffle proceeds going to Help for Heroes.
http://www.mx5scotland.co.uk/
7. A tour of the Scottish parliament for two including lunch was donated
by Margaret Smith MSP
http://www.ferryfair.co.uk/
8. Labour MSP Ken MacIntosh donated a Scottish Parliament tour, lunch and
whisky for a silent auction
Sunday Mail - 7th September 2007
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment