Politics

At the heart of the Labour funding scandal is the moral collapse of a once-great party

Wednesday, 28th November 2007

What the Labour fundraising scandal reveals

Nevertheless he is also a property developer. It is well-known that such characters seek political leverage in order to secure the planning consents which are the lifeblood of their business. No one is saying Abrahams sought influence in this way. But if this inquiry is to restore trust in politics, as Gordon Brown promises it will, then it must examine very carefully indeed all of Mr Abrahams’ political links, both at a national and local level. Otherwise it will leave behind a nasty cloud of suspicion — the kind that Gordon Brown promises to dispel.

Two further points emerge from this week’s events. The first concerns the circumstances in which the story became public. Jonathan Oliver, deputy political editor of the Mail on Sunday, was perusing the latest list of Labour donors last Wednesday when he noticed certain irregularities, and took inquiries forward from there. Mr Oliver’s diligence has already claimed one high-ranking politician, and may yet claim more. This was old-fashioned journalism at its very best.

The second concerns the conduct of the Prime Minister. Disturbing reports have emerged that Gordon Brown is rude to his secretaries — or garden girls, as they are known inside Downing Street. He is said to shout at them abusively. On one occasion he is reported to have impatiently turfed one of the girls out of her chair and sat down to use the keyboard himself.

All recent prime ministers — Thatcher, Major, Blair — were loved by the garden girls. All recent prime ministers from time to time endured problems. Only Gordon Brown has vented his frustration on secretaries, who can never answer back or speak for themselves. In the end this intemperate and regrettable conduct may cause him as much damage as Mr Abrahams.

The Triumph of the Political Class by Peter Oborne is published by Simon & Schuster.

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Tony Marsh

November 29th, 2007 1:07pm Report this comment

If the Labour Party is shown to have accepted anonymous donations , how have they coplied with money laundering regulations ? Worth including in any investigation ?

Ausin Barry

November 29th, 2007 4:10pm Report this comment

A hopeless government in disarray, a bolshy military, an increasingly resentful public watching despairingly as the country descends into a dystopian nightmare...coup d'etat anyone?

Margaret, London

November 30th, 2007 12:51am Report this comment

"Peter Abrahams, a property developer of doubtful credentials..."

David?

Alec in France

November 30th, 2007 9:35am Report this comment

Yet - although UKIP cash was confiscated on a technicality, these donations can simply be repaid. Just like Blunkett's "erroneous" expenses claim. Scum!

Alan Myers

November 30th, 2007 11:08am Report this comment

The Garden Girls? Is the suggestion that Clunking Fist's treatment of these admirable Crichtons will be as harmful as the graft at the heart of The Project really serious?

alan maddox

December 1st, 2007 3:41pm Report this comment

The Labour Party has it's roots in the wish of the working class to have their say and be represented and that is perfectly in order. The rot started when the loyalty and naivety of the labour voters and officials in local parties were used by the Trades Unions and plum,safe Labour seats were "kidnapped" by specific Unions so that one of their members would then have a voice in the House of Commons. Hence morons like John Prescott appeared.He had never set foot in Hull and probably didn't even know where the place was when he was told to go there by his Union and present himself to the local party,who were leaned on by the top dogs at Labour Party H.Q.,much as were local Tory parties lent on by Central Office when they wanted a seat for their man. The poor die hard Labour supporters in Hull had Prescott plonked upon them and this happened in many seats,e.g. Dennis Skinner. The Blair/Brown new wave quite rightly disliked this and hated relying on the Unions and ,in particular,the Labour Party HQ in England. They realised they could rid themselves of these traditional Labour shackles by putting up for bidding the resources of the state as the author says in his article,and let's throw in a bit of patronage,for good measure. Despite the lack of violence what is the difference beween the current so called "New" Labour party and the regime led by Mr Robert Mugabe?

steve

December 5th, 2007 10:00am Report this comment

Alan it may not be as serious, but if Brown is treating his most junior members of staff with this sort of contemptous, nasty, bullying, then it says much about the moral fibre of the man and certainly makes him shrink in my eyes

Dave Burns

December 8th, 2007 2:29pm Report this comment

Brown and Darling are bullies. The lost CDs were blamed on a Junior Civil Servant rather than accept the systemic failures in their own leadership. The bullying of the Garden Girls is a flaw in Brown's makeup. Rather than analyse the problem and come up with a solution he blames the most junior person possible.

jkmccarthy

February 15th, 2008 3:42pm Report this comment

Could Mr Oborne please give the provenance of Lord Butler's declamation as given above in par.2. Further, can he provide with information as to where I can find his statement in written form? Many thanks

Christopher Davison

April 8th, 2008 10:28am Report this comment

The elephant in the room is wearing a burka and Labour is going out of office for decades due to mass immigration, many reserved British people will not admit that this is the reason.

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