Labour is potentially about to get involved in a new sleaze row involving money. The Sunday Times reports that Labour has its equivalent to the Midlands Industrial Council which Labour party supporters have complained about bitterly.
It gets worse, however, one of the key figures in their equivalent, the Muslim Friends of Labour, Imran Khand has set up businesses with a Pakistan based arms dealer.
What would Chris Paul say? Chris who? You know, the Labour blogger who thinks Michael Gove can't be our shadow Schools Minister because he happens to have spent some time in private education. Alas Chris "double standards" Paul has not as yet called for Ed Balls to be moved whose whole secondary education was private.
Well, Chris also wrote this article about someone who had donated money to the Conservative party, and has links to the arms trade. Obviously Chris Paul will be be getting on his high horse about Labour getting dirty money. Or perhaps not, as he does seem to have double standards.
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Yo Benedict. That's a bit fierce mate. Anyhow I'm onto this one. Mr Khand appears to be an IT millionaire. I have yet to find any link between him and any arms dealer - apart from in the Times report and in your blog.
Neither of the Times nor your good self provide a link to this arms dealer Mr Khand is linked with. There is not even a name. Surely not the Times taking a daft punt and making things up again?
What appears to be certain is that unlike Dave-id Cameron's embarrassing donor Mr Khand is not a manufacturer of battlefield weapons with a global reach and some very cool designer ones for the gangster/special forces/spies market to boot.
Let me know when you have some better info.
PS Benedict. What the hell is the point of linking to the main page of my blog instead of the actual story you are referring to. Very inept if I might say so. Very unhelpful to your readers. Please please please if you are going to rag my work get your links right.
Well, Chris, I would not be so fierce if you did not adopt nutty positions on us Conservatives and then fall absolutely silent when you own side does the same. going back to Michael Gove, (see the link to my article, then you can go back and see your comment) have you called for Ed Balls to be moved yet?
BTW, linking to your blog as a whole was deliberate in one instance, though I also meant to link to your article which was now been fixed.
On the arms manufacturer dealer question, it is clear that Imrand is not himself one but linked. I do not know who the arms dealer is, I suspect the Times does know. What I do know is that when I make these kinds of statements they are read by the other sides lawyers and as yet none has been in touch.
However there is a difference between arms manufacturing, and dealing. We need people to manufacture guns for the defence of the realm. We also need people to sell them, but sometimes arms dealers sell to all sorts of people including very nasty ones.
(Arms manufacturers don't as a rule, though some may have dubious practices in dealing with arms dealers they know are not legitimate)
The point being that you pilloried us for accepting money from someone engaged in an industry vital to the national interest but have as yet (though I appreciate you may like to do your own digging) not made any comment here much like in the case of Ed Balls.
BTW, how do you feel about the Midlands Industrial Council?
Thanks for fixing the relevant link. There has been a surge in traffic already.
I have carried the story immediately I heard about it on my blog. You may like to read it. In fact I think you have?
It is not at all "clear" from the story in the Times how linked Imran is and to whom. You have boosted what Murdoch calls a "salesman" to be a "dealer" or one of "dealers". This is at best hysteria and may be actionable inaccuracy. Though I don't sdhare your confidence that Khand's lawyers will have reviewed your blog just yet.
But it is odd how the story has gone so quiet?
Incidentally you say we need arms manufacturers. This may or may not be the case. And the scale at which and the ways in which they operate (I suspect from your remarks that you have checked out H&K's methodology) is moot.
What we do know is that parties are rightly scrutinised for the donations they seek and accept and that given the pallaver over guns this was not the wisest choice. Giving the money back would be a good idea as I've said elsewhere.
Michael Gove - I do wish you lot would stop taking things out of context, presenting blog comment banter as official LP policy and that! That's more a LIb Dem kind of theing to do if I may say so?
Gove made an extraordinary remark about Old Etonians on the front bench. Saying they went there because their mums and dads loved them enough to send them to a good school. aka a den of slavery, physical and sexual abuse, copious drug taking and songs about jolly boating weather and buggering the Sphinx. Not to mention being out of the way of mater and pater's life - the oiks.
Twas for that twattery rather than the simple fact he went to a public school that he gets a dig in the ribs from me. He couldn't help the choice made. He can help his silly remarks.
As others have pointed out which school we go to is generally a postcode lottery combined with parental choice. Where the little Goves and the little Ballses go to school is more of a test.
Blair went to Fettes of course, his kids went to a state school -ish. A mistake I think. But where are the little Goves and Ballses going? That's the test. No idea whether Ed and Yvette will pass it. If they don't we will deal with that when it happens.
Midlands Industrial Council - isn't that a Tory Friends Group without the openness and decency to have this related in their name?
The Electoral Commission are very very good at publishing pdfs ad pamphlets but unofrtunately less good at real regulation and policing.
But I suspect that the MFL will get its ducks in a row very quickly if they need to be registered. And I reckon they will also quickly publish the list.
Did the MIC do either?
Sorry for the typos. Obvious and none meaning changing I hope.
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