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Post by El Morto La Hoja! on Oct 21, 2008 12:07:23 GMT -1
George Osborne denied claims he tried to solicit a donation
Shadow chancellor George Osborne has denied claims he tried to solicit a £50,000 donation for the Tories from Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska.
Financier Nathaniel Rothschild told The Times that Mr Osborne and Tory chief executive Andrew Feldman had discussed a donation from Mr Deripaska.
Mr Rothschild said they had boarded the Russian businessman's yacht off Corfu in the summer "to solicit a donation".
But Mr Osborne said: "We didn't ask for money; we didn't receive any."
'Rigorous'
Under electoral law, overseas residents cannot make donations to UK political parties.
In his letter to The Times, Mr Rothschild alleges that Mr Feldman suggested that Mr Deripaska might channel the money to the Tories via one of his British firms.
He added that the businessman had declined to make any donation.
In a statement to reporters outside Conservative campaign headquarters in Millbank, central London, Mr Osborne said: "People make suggestion all the time about donations to the Conservative Party, but we are always clear and rigorous [in assessing these]."
He added that he had met Mr Deripaska on two occasions and that "on both occasions we didn't ask for money".
Mr Osborne, who said he had been on Mr Deripaska's yacht twice - once with Lord Mandelson - also promised to publish a full chronology, detailing the times and lengths of the meetings.
He added: "I certainly regret all the fuss and the misunderstanding that has come out of the trip to Corfu."
George Osborne and Lord Mandelson both visited Oleg Deripaska's yacht
Earlier the Conservatives had issued a statement saying that "the allegations made in Mr Rothschild's letter to the Times are completely untrue.
"Both Andrew Feldman and George Osborne deny absolutely that they attempted to solicit a donation from Oleg Deripaska.
"Nor did they suggest a method by which he could conceal a donation via a British company.
"They spent a short period of time on Mr Deripaska's boat at the invitation of Mr Rothschild.
"Donations to the Conservative Party were not discussed with Mr Deripaska.
"In a conversation on September 18, Mr Rothschild suggested to Andrew Feldman that Mr Deripaska wanted to make a donation to the party through one of his British companies."
'Well-heeled'
The statement added: "The offer was not taken up. For clarity - the Conservative Party has neither sought or received any donations from Mr Deripaska nor any of his companies."
The new business secretary - a European Commissioner at the time - Lord Mandelson, also spent time on Mr Deripaska's yacht, Queen K, when it was docked by the Greek island of Corfu in the summer.
In his letter to The Times, Mr Rothschild says he is writing in because of that newspaper's "obsession with Mr Mandelson".
He added: "I also think it ill behoves all political parties to try and make capital at the expense of another in such circumstances.
"Perhaps in future it would be better if all involved accepted the age-old adage that private parties are just that."
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tut tut
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Post by ovechkin8 on Oct 21, 2008 20:16:43 GMT -1
Whats the big deal ?
Peter 'El Sleazebag' Mandelsons mate one of the Rothschilds you know ie champagne socialist again is annoyed by an indiscretion of leaking a private conversation and writes to the Times to say money was offered to the Tories which was refused.
This is the same man who when eurocrat Nazi Mandelson was in charhe of EU tax breaks received a fair few himself making enormous amounts of money ie old boys club.
It has all the fingerprints of El Sleazebag all over it.
Does the BBC launch this story to hide the Blair/Ecclestone sequel ? You'd think Osbourne had committed murder.
Not surprising considering the BBC is as politically correct & left leaning as they come (Guinivere is black now according to them in the Arthurian mythos (have to fulfil the diversity quota)) esp.since that dickhead Dyke took over.
Granted he's a useless pillock .Anyone worth their salt would be flaying Gordon Brown alive. The master of overborrowing,d eregulation or nonregulation , the man who raids pension funds & sells off the countries bullion & puts us in the red again.
And Osbourne has done sod all. In the end it could be a nice break for the Tories if they decide to get shot of him over this alleged sleaze .
Mind you he is Camerons (Blair mark 2 Obama mark 1 Palin freak )bumchum.
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Post by El Morto La Hoja! on Oct 22, 2008 20:35:09 GMT -1
... quote off the news on this subject:
"if you sleep with dogs, you get fleas"
lol ;D
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Post by ovechkin8 on Oct 23, 2008 6:54:19 GMT -1
... quote off the news on this subject: "if you sleep with dogs, you get fleas" lol ;D In which case Mandy would be a mangy bitch Indi. ;D Really they are all worse than each other. No consideration for the future of this country or any strategic long term planning. Just patheti squabbling from a group of people who have very little life experience. Obama is Blair's reincarnation. Lots of PR & spin, buzzword change, all smiling faces but with precious few ideas that will actually work. Remember 1997 all the hype surrounding the new Messiah, the man to change Britain into something different & better ? Well eleven years of utter misrule on every front theyhave changed it ... for the worse. The only two decent policies I've heard from all the party conferences actually came from Blue Labour ie preventing a thrid runway at Heathrow & the building of a new ultrafast intercitylink between London & the Midlands, albeit countries like Germany, France & Spain are years ahead in this regard. |
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Post by ancientblade on Oct 23, 2008 12:55:55 GMT -1
It seems to me that what is good for the goose is good for the gander.
It seems that Osbourne was at a private party and chose to leak details of certain things that were said there. He did that deliberately to try and make political capital. So, he can hardly complain if it all seems to have back fired.
If it was a government minister that this non-story was about, the Conservative party and the press would be trying to make as much of it as possible, and it would also receive extensive BBC coverage, just as other governmant 'scandals' have.
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Post by ancientblade on Oct 23, 2008 13:00:03 GMT -1
... quote off the news on this subject: "if you sleep with dogs, you get fleas" lol ;D Obama is Blair's reincarnation. Lots of PR & spin, buzzword change, all smiling faces but with precious few ideas that will actually work. . Similar things were said about Clinton before he won office, but he is generally acknowledged as one of the USA's better presidents of recent decades. Mind you, not much competition - Nixon, Ford, Carter, Regan, Bush Snr and Bush Jnr! |
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Post by El Morto La Hoja! on Oct 23, 2008 13:38:27 GMT -1
it'll be hard not to look good after Bush Jr.
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