Tony Blair: what did he know and when did he know it?

Posted on Thursday 14 December, 2006
Filed Under New Labour

 


blair.jpg

Detectives today spent two hours questioning Tony Blair – pictured left – on his role in the cash for honours affair. But the interview was not under caution, suggesting that he is seen as a witness rather than a potential suspect.

In other words, the prime minister is effectively off the hook, although somebody further down the food chain may end up taking the rap. But – as was asked of Richard Nixon – what did he know and when did he know it?

Lord Levy approached something like a dozen leading business figures and secured secret financing to the tune of £14m. Did Blair know?

Describing these massive sums of money as ‘loans’ in the first place was a deliberate attempt to get round the law. Did Blair know?

Lord Levy also acted behind the backs of Labour officials, including the party’s elected treasurer. Did Blair know?

And what role did Blair play in the subsequent nomination of four of the lenders for peerages?

I think that clause about ‘bringing the party into disrepute’ is still in the rulebook, you know.


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Comments

2 Responses to “Tony Blair: what did he know and when did he know it?”

  1. Duncan Money
    on December 14th, 2006 at 15:41

    It’s an idle fantasy but it would be delicious poetic justice if the left could get Tony Blair expelled from the Labour Party for contravening the rule of ‘bringing the party into disrepute’.

    In fact, is that even technically possible? I’m not an up to date expert on the intricacies of the Labour Party rulebook.

  2. Phil
    on December 14th, 2006 at 16:09

    Duncan – I believe that’s a New Labour addition to the rulebook, brought in not long before the 1997 election. So you’re looking at a rank-and-file anti-leadership rebellion which reaches the level of the National Constitutional Committee – or, given that Blair’s a serving MP, the Whips’ Office.

    (Cheap jibe about transitional demands omitted here.)