Mr Abrahams and the Labour Party
From 1992-95 I worked for the Fabian Society. Our meetings were attended by a variety of people: students and academics, hacks and Labour Party members, politicos and wannabe politicos. The presence of someone such as Gordon Brown at one of these meetings was not in the least bit unusual, nor that of any other senior party figure. As an affiliated part of the Labour Party, our job in opposition was to provoke thought about the party's policies.
One of the regular - indeed, one of the most assiduous - attendees at those meetings was David Abrahams. He would mix, as would everyone in that milieu, with backbenchers, front benchers, NEC members and Shadow Cabinet members.
Many of those people are now ministers. Others are Cabinet members, some very senior. It is possible - just - that when they say they have no idea who David Abrahams is, or cannot recall ever meeting him, they are telling the truth. It is, after all, possible that there are people in the country who have never heard of, say, Gordon Brown. Possible, yes; but very, very unlikely.
Indeed, far from keeping himself to himself, as is being written, Abrahams was about the pushiest person I ever came across in my time at the Fabians - and in politics, that is saying something. He would ring up the office asking about meetings and contact; at those meetings, he would make a bee-line for the most senior politicians in the room. He was, in short, keen to be noticed.
There are some people who just give off a bad vibe. I recall a number of times when Abrahams offered us a donation. You get a nose for these sort of things (unless, it seems, you are Labour General Secretary or running for office within the party), and we decided at the time to steer well clear. As a member, he was entitled to attend various meetings, but we had no obligation to accept money or offers of work from anyone.
Everything about the current story smells. Abrahams' explanation of his behaviour makes little sense. Can he really have gone from being one of the pushiest and most self-aggrandising people I came across to being so afraid of publicity that he chanelled donations through other people? I don't think we have got remotely to the bottom of the Abrahams side of this story.
As for the politicians, I simply do not believe those ministers and Labour officials who have been round the block for all these years who say they do not know Abrahams. It is inconceivable that they have forgotten him: he has a manner one simply does not forget.
If his status as a donor was anonymous and no one knew who he was, how come he was in the front row of Tony Blair's farewell speech?
Make up your own minds whether you call that deceit or forgetfulness. I've made up mine. They know who he is all right; they must do if they have been at party functions. They just don't want to admit it.
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Rick
November 27th, 2007 4:26pmGutless Gordon's grubby government. Incompetent, inept and in crisis. So we will have ANOTHER review, all paid for by the taxpayer. We will hear over and over again the Labour mantras ' draw a line under this', learn the lessons from that', we are getting on with the job of running the country'. Let's cut to the chase; Brown, give us the General Election you pretended to last month. Get some courage from somewhere ( ask for donations ? ) and go to the country for their endorsement. http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Election-year/ Somehow, I think gutless Gordon will try to cling desperately on.
Maizy Doats
November 27th, 2007 4:44pmLord Levy was described as "pushy" too. Pushiness seems to be all you need to get New Labour to welcome you in.
Lawrence
November 27th, 2007 6:05pmFunny how Labour politicians have suddenly succumbed to potentially lethal AAS - Abrahams Amnesia Syndrome. I,too,knew David Martin Abrahams. Only a political Rip Van Winkle could have snoozed through Abrahams's dogged attention seeking in the North East, often the base for some of Labour's biggest hitters.
simon woodruff
November 27th, 2007 7:26pmVery telling that on Channel 4 news yesterday, after denying that he had heard of him, Jack Straw referred to him as 'Dave' Abrahams rather than David. Nice one Jack. When so many of you are lying through your teeth it is just simply impossible for the truth not to come out but by then the Labour party will have destroyed what little reputation it had left. Is there noone brave enough in the party to stand up and speak out or are you all completely spineless?
Marin
November 27th, 2007 7:27pmI remember, a while ago, seing some teenage Londoners who, when interviewed for a TV programme, ddn't know that London was the capital of UK and never heard of Tony Blair (who was Prime-Minister at the time). It is therefore entirely conceivable that 'when some minsters say they have no idea who David Abrahams is, or cannot recall ever meeting him, they are telling the truth'.
secret donor
November 27th, 2007 8:43pmI too was on the Labour circuit around this time and I too remember David Abrahams from those days and agree with Pollard's account. The Labour Party is deluding itself into an early political grave by this kind of denial.
Joshua
November 27th, 2007 11:04pm"Lord Levy was described as "pushy" too." - In Britain, successful Jews are "pushy" and "selfish". Gentiles, on the other hand, are "thrusting" and "ambitious". It's one of the many reasons why Jews tend to be so much more successful in the U.S. than the UK.
tapestry
November 28th, 2007 2:09amI have never met David Abrahams. Nor do I want to....or Harriet Marman, or Gordon Brown.
Lobster Blogster
November 28th, 2007 5:21amAdmission of guilt seems such a difficult thing for national politicians. I am glad to say that here in Watford the Lib Dems have owned up to all the allegations
Ben
November 28th, 2007 1:58pmStephen - after reading your blog I find it very difficult to understand why the Fabian Society, or any other volutary organisation, would refuse offers of financial support from one of their most active members.
The only explanation you have offered is that David Abrahams was "pushy" and "gave off a bad vibe". I will try to ignore the anti-semitic subtext of this explanation.
But if Mr Abrahams was qualified and allowed to be a member of the Labour Party and an active member of the Fabian Society, then why should he not be allowed to donate to these organisations also?
It seems that Mr Abrahams is seen by some as a pushy jumped-up Jew. But that does not make him a criminal nor any less of a citizen than you or I.
Joss Fitzsimons
November 28th, 2007 3:19pmOn the web I see much speculation about the motives behind the covert bribes paid by David Abraham to the Labour party. Speculation about planning corruption and "Honours" abound but nothing about Israel. Given the involvement of the UK in successfully dividing an conquering Iraq, the primary threat to Israel prior to the invasion; it is reasonable to wonder if David Abraham is in fact a bag man for the Israel lobby. When Jews give covert money to politicians, one must suspect it is for Israels benefit. Blair said Israel needed "more time to complete their objectives" when they were bombing defenseless Lebanon. Did David Abraham pay for that statement I wonder?
Ian C
November 28th, 2007 5:55pmThe whole thing is giving off a very strong smell. How can the labour Party have systems that allow a woman's name to be used as donor without her having any idea her name was being used? Someone knew and was doing something illegal. Then there was Abrahams curious denial about money being paid to H H's deputy leadership campaign. Very odd way to deny it. A journo will get to the bottom of what exactly is causing the whiff in the next few days and then watch the fireworks!
Jeremy Jacobs
November 29th, 2007 12:29amRotten business Stephen. Joshua. Good point.
Alan
November 29th, 2007 6:28pmAs others have already noted today, one is struck by the links with Labour Friends of Israel... Also as others have wondered, was Abrahams acting as a conduit, just as his stooges acted as his? What is going on in the Middle East? We have to ask, cui bono?
Rupert Lloyd Thomas
November 30th, 2007 9:38pmDavid Abrahams was a Labour Councillor in St Anthony's Ward, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was known to everyone in the Labour Party in the North-East from Tony Blair on down. Come on Spectator, follow the money!
British Patriot
December 3rd, 2007 9:24pmAh Zionist Jack (the British are not worth saving as a race )Straw and his innadvertant freudian slips giving the game away again. Any chance we could have our country back. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1719968.ece http://www.underthecarpet.co.uk/Pages/NewsArticle.php?num=2195 http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2005/apr/04/localgovernment.politics http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4310965.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/6613769.stm http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/Former-mayor-is-charged-following.3160219.jp http://www.theasiannews.co.uk/news/s/1019288_man_jailed_after_impersonating_voter http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/6178224.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/4425519.stm http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2788987.ece http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2005/apr/04/localgovernment.politics The Eradication of National Identity http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/865
Moving to the BNP
December 25th, 2007 6:03pmIt is essential to get New Labour out of Downing Street. They are the most corrupt, incompetent, shocking government I have ever seen at the helm of my country. Under this awful government, so-called asylum seekers and other foreigners are flocking to Britain. They don't claim asylum in other European countries because they all want to come to soft touch Britain where they will get put to the front of the queue before British people for housing, people who have paid into the system for years! In addition, they walk all over us: mosques are springing up like never before and Muslims suicide bomb us and call us evil - but they're only too happy to claim the full range of benefits available! I'm sick of the loathsome lefties eroding our culture and way of life and will definitely be voting for the BNP at the next election as I see them as the only hope for claiming our country back. Currently, white British people are made to feel like second-class citizens in their own country. There's no freedom of speech either unless it's for the foreigner. Next, there are services which are in chaos. Water shortages in summer are becoming far more common and migrants breeding like rabbits will double our population reportedly by 2080. We have hosepipe bans in the summer - people are going to die because of all the extra people! What about the rising burden on the NHS? How about the fact fifty different languages will be spoken in schools and the impact on communication and education? There's also going to be far more houses needed. Think of all those extra houses having to be built on floodplains - because of demand by foreigners. For Goodness' sake, we're heading for Muslim Sharia law in this country.