Troubles for Straw
's got a lot of explaining to do.
The Justice Secretary is increasingly being bitten himself by the legislation on party funding which, in 2000, he pushed through Parliament as 91Èȱ¬ Secretary.
In his new role as Justice Secretary Mr Straw is again responsible for overseeing party finance. Indeed MPs are next expected to debate his new funding bill on 9 February.
Yet Mr Straw himself faces embarrassment on four significant fronts:
1. Lord Taylor
Or more precisely, , whom Mr Straw described last November as "a long standing friend and colleague of mine". As I pointed out on Newsnight on 26 January, Lord Taylor was a major contributor to Mr Straw's campaign funds - giving the Blackburn Labour Party £3,000 at the time of the 2001 general election, and £2,000 during the 2005 campaign. Lord Taylor, you will recall, is one of the four Labour peers who were entrapped by the Sunday Times last week, and was caught on tape telling an undercover journalist that he regularly took payments for influencing legislation.
2. Arif Patel
gave Jack Straw's campaign £2,000 in 2005 through his clothing firm . Last April, police raided the firm's office and arrested nine people in an investigation into suspected frauds reported to be worth tens of millions of pounds, involving VAT and imported counterfeit goods. The police inquiry continues.
3. Westminster International Consultants
This firm also gave Jack Straw's campaign £2,000 in 2005, but there are strong signs that the donation breached his 2000 party funding act. Judging from their published accounts Westminster International Consultants (WIC) does not seem to have traded in Britain, and its address is given as a London law firm which, according to today's Telegraph, knows nothing of its existence. Two of WIC's partners in 2005 were based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This raises the question of whether WIC is really front operation to channel money to Mr Straw, which is strictly against the law, which states that money cannot be taken from firms which do not trade. The law would have been doubly broken had the money really come from Saudi Arabia, since that would be a foreign
One of WIC's partners, Siraj Karbhari, who used to be a councillor in Blackburn, told the Telegraph that the £2,000 came from him, not WIC. "I am a UK citizen and this was not a foreign donation. I made a cheque from one of my companies. I can't recollect which chequebook I used. If they have listed a donation from Westminster [International Consultants], that is a mistake."
The Conservative MP Ben Wallace has made a complaint about all this to the Electoral Commission.
4. Canatxx
This American firm gave £3,000 towards the cost of a party at Blackburn Rovers football ground in 2004 to mark Jack Straw's 25 years as an MP. This matters, not just because of the rules, but because has roused considerable opposition in north Lancashire with its attempts to build a gas storage facility. And one of their advisers is Lord Taylor of Blackburn.
Mr Straw apologised for failing to declare the money from Canatxx, but last month .
Now Jack Straw is a wily, intelligent politician. One would expect him to be a little more careful about who his friends are, and from whom he takes money for his campaigns.
Especially when he's still in charge of revising the laws on party funding.
As the Standards Committee remarked:
"Mr Straw is an experienced Member ... As 91Èȱ¬ Secretary, Mr Straw put the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act ... on the Statute Book. As Justice Secretary, he is piloting the current Political Parties and Elections Bill through the House. Both have as their theme the need for transparency in political donations. Pressure of work may explain why Mr Straw overlooked his responsibilities, but the nature of his job should also have been a constant reminder to him of the need to observe the Code."
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Here's my film from Monday on the troubles facing Jack Straw and the House of Lords.
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I'm Michael Crick, and I'm Newsnight's political editor. My guiding rule is that in any story there's usually something the politicians would prefer the world not to know. My job is to find that out. Follow me on
Comment number 1.
At 3rd Feb 2009, barriesingleton wrote:WESTMINSTER DRAWS ITS OWN.
Jack Straw's 'little embarrassment' is no surprise - he is a Westminster politician.
To join that club, and serve its requirements, is to suppress certain values on which fundamental decency is founded.
That sounds harsh when one considers Frank Field, Vince Cable and a few others. But, EVEN THEY, never denounce, in unequivocal terms, the disgraceful affront to the people of this country that is Westminster 'democracy'.
They ALL have a lot of explaining to do, but the ballot box is dumb and stupid.
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Comment number 2.
At 3rd Feb 2009, missmibs wrote:Well done Michael Crick for bringing Jack Straw's 'wily and intelligent' political behaviour
to the fore? Sadly, there will be few comments on this site.
However, over many years, my family has noticed all the departments under Jack Straw's 'control' over too many years?
They are many departments and, more importantly, they have failed under Jack Straw who has been 'moved on' to another department to do the same again.
He has allegedly behaved like a 'bad doctor' listen, but do little within the 'brief' to avoid attention, but take the salary and promised pension?
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Comment number 3.
At 3rd Feb 2009, JeremyP wrote:Wily? Nasty, underhand, smiler with a dagger under his coat who blows whichever way the wind blows to stay in power.
I would so like to see Straw done. But of course, these laws are only rules, aren't they?
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Comment number 4.
At 3rd Feb 2009, Cynosarges wrote:The only thing I am surprised about is that these activities appear to be blatantly illegal, so I wonder why there has been no police investigation. But then the police appear to be an arm of the Labour party.
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Comment number 5.
At 3rd Feb 2009, all_english wrote:Typical
of our political class
Happy to make rules for the purposes of generating news paper headlines but with absolutely no intention of obeying them the instant they become inconvenient
The kind of man who thinks that anyone speeding/late with tax disc/ recycling refusenik/ protester outside parlaiment deserves to be punished and criminalised severly but expects never to be punished for far more severe offences commited whilst coming down like a ton of bricks on those guilty of the above trivial offences
I look foward to hearing the weasley "didnt know, I forgot, Its the office Juniors fault excuses they will make, totally oblivious to the fact that these are no excuses for the rest of us
Like the previous contributor said the man is an amoral backstabber who cares about nothing other than wealth for himself and power over the rest of us
Something attested to by everyone from Leeds University Student Union onwards
He may have broken the law, but nothing will happen since so has every member of parliament
I comfort myself however that this is one more small piece of proof of the need for some radical, possibly revolutionary, change in the way we are governed
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Comment number 6.
At 3rd Feb 2009, barriesingleton wrote:LABOUR PARTY'S MS PLOD (#4)
You could be onto something Cyno. I have observed that Jacqui Smith has developed a pronounced plod - especially the right foot-fall, whereupon the whole facade shakes - rminiscent of Tony's 'aping' of the Bush cowboy-strut. Could she be a closet copper? A distaff Dixon?
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Comment number 7.
At 3rd Feb 2009, lordBeddGelert wrote:The phrase 'hoist by his own petard' could have been invented for such eventualities..
Fine work Mr Crick..
p.s. Did you get a Christmas Card from Caroline Spelman ?
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Comment number 8.
At 3rd Feb 2009, Counterpoint wrote:Nothing will happen.
The police have been corrupted and now work for the Labour Party. If they wish to prove me wrong they will raid Straw's office and home, and will arrest him.
Nothing will happen.
Deeply corrupt country.
All integrity corroded.
Labour have degraded every aspect and facet of our society.
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Comment number 9.
At 3rd Feb 2009, anthonygh wrote:I'm not sure why you bother reporting this. I'm not sure why anyone bothers reporting any of the scams etc that politicians get up to. Obviously no-one expects anything to change....for the better that is. Things will obviously get worse.
I recall the various reasons people have given me over recent years for going to live in Spain, Greece etc. The three themes were...weather.....cost of living...and getting away from political corruption and an ever increasing Police State.
I had intended to take the same route until the economy went pear shaped....well...pear shaped for some of us that is. Probably not for any politicians.
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Comment number 10.
At 3rd Feb 2009, leftieoddbod wrote:no man is liked less than 'our Jack' In the seventies he was leader of the students, a man of the left then along with Neil Kinnock they drew up the drawbridge and ran to the right as fast as their legs could carry them and betray every principle they held.... Now Jack has big stuff to get out of and fullmarks to Michael for uncovering this mess. Jack won't go quietly he is the one politician who will employ every trick in the book to delay justice but reputations are easily sullied and Jack hasn't got one anymore....
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Comment number 11.
At 5th Feb 2009, richLyndamac wrote:This scandal is by far nothing, in comparison to the scandal of MP's turning a blind eye to the Family courts ,and the important issue of full disclosure of tax revenue earned by professionals and local authorities. What is the going rate for this I wonder?
Jack Straw replied ; " is computer would not be able to cope with the data".
I asked just how many parents are barred from returning to court to fight for a wrongful removal of a child?
The use of draconian law being liberally used. Section 91/14 they are selling our future children OUT
.Our children are mere commodities to be sold on for adoption by local authorities.
moving on now I was outrage whilst spending time in Addenbrookes with my child to be told Mary Archer does the rounds on children's ward .
The last thing you want to see is Jeremy Archers wife Mary coming to visit you in Addenbrookes hospital . Families have a tough enough time dealing with children battling with leuakemia to have to pass pleasantries with a perjurers wife .
This respect for MP's ,Judges & social workers who get away with perjury in closed court says it all.
Now move on to discuss the interest in this gravy train and you will have summed up why we need this nanny state.
Children's Rights Campaigner
www.lyndamac.com
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Comment number 12.
At 8th Feb 2009, Secret Love wrote:So just to affirm the situation.
Jack Straw has been investigated and it was all a mistake.
Peter Hain failed to register donations, but he was just rebuked.
£600,000 was accepted in someone else's name, but that was just 'a breach of the rules.'
Peter Mandelson failed to declare his mortgage arrangements, and handed out passports to his Indian friends - but that must be OK because they've made him a Lord.
Oh and as Lord Moonie so eloquently put it -"Asking for money may not be right, but that doesn't mean it's wrong."
Nothing to see here then - move along.
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Comment number 13.
At 18th Mar 2009, LancasterLabour wrote:On the Canatxx, the local Labour Party (Lancaster and Fleetwood CLP and Lancaster and Wyre before that) oppose Canatxx. Indeed members of the Poulton branch of Lancaster and Wyre walked out of the dinner mentioned. Among them was the Leader of the Labour Group on Wyre Borough Council.
On the proposal itself, this is the second time that Canatxx have applied to Gas under the River Wyre. It was and still is opposed by the local Labour Party. Joan Humble MP (Blackpool North and Fleetwood) spoke against at the Public Inquiry and it was a Labour Secretary of State that killed it off. Our current Parliamentary Candidate opposes the development as well.
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