Tony L
Administrator
Another update, this one focusing on the Conservative Party selling peerages and attempting to cover their traces. Everything is for sale with Tories, this time it is our political system. It would be hard to find an example of more blatant corruption, but given pretty much everything they do is corrupt it comes as zero surprise. Crooked to their very core.
“A peculiar trend has been spotted in the House of Lords. Have you noticed it? It looks a bit like high-value donors to the Tory party are being ‘awarded’ a peerage as thanks for a massive wad of cash. Dodgy stuff.
There’s no denying the numbers. Earlier this month, The Sunday Times and openDemocracy revealed that 15 of the last 16 Conservative Party treasurers have been offered a seat in the House of Lords, having each donated more than £3 million to the party.
Many other Conservative donors have also been ennobled alongside party treasurers. In total 22 of the party’s main financial backers have been given peerages since 2010. Together, they have given an estimated £54 million to the party.
A former Tory Party chairman reportedly told The Sunday Times, “Once you pay your £3 million, you get your peerage.” And one former Conservative cabinet minister this month described it as a “scandal in plain sight”.
The Scottish National Party’s Pete Wishart MP wrote to the Metropolitan Police to report this pattern and ask them to investigate. But mere days later, the Met wrote back to Mr Wishart refusing to investigate, saying “there is insufficient information upon which to launch a criminal investigation”.
This is rather baffling. Buying or selling honours is a crime which the police have, in the past, been willing to investigate. In March 2006, Scottish National Party MP Angus McNeil brought a complaint to the police after it emerged that four wealthy businessmen, who had lent the Labour Party a total of £5 million, were nominated by Tony Blair for peerages. The police questioned a raft of politicians over the scandal and made several arrests.
We think it looks suspiciously like the Conservatives are selling off seats in the heart of our democracy. Members of the House of Lords get a say on laws that affect all of our lives. Why should someone get a vote on Universal Credit because they handed 3 million quid to the Conservative Party?
When asked about this yesterday, the Prime Minister defended his party’s reliance on major donors, saying, “Until you get rid of the system by which the trade union barons fund other parties…we have to go ahead.”
If the Government is selling peerages, it’s breaking the law. We think there is more than enough evidence to trigger a police investigation. If the Metropolitan Police refuse to investigate, they must satisfactorily explain why or risk judicial review.
Alongside Pete Wishart MP, we areasking the Met to share the information and documents they considered before refusing to investigate, and the internal record of the refusal.
At the heart of this legal action is a simple ask: that Boris Johnson be subject to the same law as you and I. And if there's reason to think he has broken it he gets investigated by the police, just like you and I would.
Thank you,
Jo Maugham - Good Law Project
Good Law Project only exists thanks to donations from ordinary people across the UK. If you’re in a position to support our work, you can do so here:
Donate”
“A peculiar trend has been spotted in the House of Lords. Have you noticed it? It looks a bit like high-value donors to the Tory party are being ‘awarded’ a peerage as thanks for a massive wad of cash. Dodgy stuff.
There’s no denying the numbers. Earlier this month, The Sunday Times and openDemocracy revealed that 15 of the last 16 Conservative Party treasurers have been offered a seat in the House of Lords, having each donated more than £3 million to the party.
Many other Conservative donors have also been ennobled alongside party treasurers. In total 22 of the party’s main financial backers have been given peerages since 2010. Together, they have given an estimated £54 million to the party.
A former Tory Party chairman reportedly told The Sunday Times, “Once you pay your £3 million, you get your peerage.” And one former Conservative cabinet minister this month described it as a “scandal in plain sight”.
The Scottish National Party’s Pete Wishart MP wrote to the Metropolitan Police to report this pattern and ask them to investigate. But mere days later, the Met wrote back to Mr Wishart refusing to investigate, saying “there is insufficient information upon which to launch a criminal investigation”.
This is rather baffling. Buying or selling honours is a crime which the police have, in the past, been willing to investigate. In March 2006, Scottish National Party MP Angus McNeil brought a complaint to the police after it emerged that four wealthy businessmen, who had lent the Labour Party a total of £5 million, were nominated by Tony Blair for peerages. The police questioned a raft of politicians over the scandal and made several arrests.
We think it looks suspiciously like the Conservatives are selling off seats in the heart of our democracy. Members of the House of Lords get a say on laws that affect all of our lives. Why should someone get a vote on Universal Credit because they handed 3 million quid to the Conservative Party?
When asked about this yesterday, the Prime Minister defended his party’s reliance on major donors, saying, “Until you get rid of the system by which the trade union barons fund other parties…we have to go ahead.”
If the Government is selling peerages, it’s breaking the law. We think there is more than enough evidence to trigger a police investigation. If the Metropolitan Police refuse to investigate, they must satisfactorily explain why or risk judicial review.
Alongside Pete Wishart MP, we areasking the Met to share the information and documents they considered before refusing to investigate, and the internal record of the refusal.
At the heart of this legal action is a simple ask: that Boris Johnson be subject to the same law as you and I. And if there's reason to think he has broken it he gets investigated by the police, just like you and I would.
Thank you,
Jo Maugham - Good Law Project
Good Law Project only exists thanks to donations from ordinary people across the UK. If you’re in a position to support our work, you can do so here:
Donate”