The sleaze league: Tories v Labour
|
Crash, crisis: dare he call an election now? | Dare he call an election now? (continued) | The signs of hope amid the market meltdown | The plague that refused to go away Is new Labour sleazier than the Tories? Such questions have become the latest dinner party fodder as allegations of cronyism have proliferated around Labour. Comparing the parties is tricky, since sleaze comes in many forms. But these are the main categories: Sex The Tories got off to a solid start with Cecil Parkinson and his love child in Margaret Thatchers' 1979-83 administration, and later properly got into their stride with David Mellor's affair with Antonia de Sancha. It was followed by a string of Tory sex scandals that cost the careers of Tim Yeo (secret love child), Richard Spring (three-in-a-bed) and Piers Merchant (a 17-year-old nightclub hostess).
Other scandals included Alan Clark's affairs with the wife of a judge and her two daughters. Labour, however, has shown its weakness for sex, too. Robin Cook ended his marriage after it was revealed he was having an affair with his secretary, Gaynor Regan. And Ron Davies, the Welsh seretary, resigned after meeting a man on Clapham Common in a "moment of madness". Money Mellor's ministerial career survived the sex scandal. What finished him politically were disclosures that he had been on family holidays paid for by Mona Bauwens, daughter of a prominent PLO paymaster.
The suspicion that the rich could buy political influence took off with Asil Nadir, the boss of Polly Peck. When he was suspected of stealing millions of pounds, the Serious Fraud Office raided his offices. Documents soon emerged showing that Nadir had secretly donated more than £400,000 to the Thatcher administration. Michael Mates resigned over his links with Nadir. Neil Hamilton was accused of receiving cash in brown envelopes from Mohamed al-Fayed. He and Tim Smith were ruled to have fallen below the standards expected of MPs. But Labour has also been far from the "purer than pure" it promised in opposition. Within months of Tony Blair winning power, it emerged that the boss of Formular One, Bernie Ecclestone, had donated £1m to Labour and the government had performed an extraordinary U-turn to allow tobacco advertising and sponsorship of his events to continue. In the furore that followed, Labour returned the cash. Then Geoffrey Robinson, the paymaster-general in a government that wanted to crack down on tax avoiders, was revealed to have a fortune stashed in an offshore trust.
Peter Mandelson admitted to taking £373,000 from Robinson for a house and was forced to resign. After being restored to the cabinet, he resigned again after accusations that he had helped the Hinduja brothers, Indian billionaires, get British passports. Lies The most damning case of dishonesty for the Tories involved Jonathan Aitken, who vowed to fight for his reputation using the trusty sword of truth. He was later charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice and served 18 months. More recently, Lord Archer was forced to resign from the Tory party after it was alleged he had asked a friend to lie for him in court during a libel case over his alleged relationship with a prostitute.
Labour has been less brazen in its twisting of the truth. But Peter Mandelson was seen to have told porkies to his mortgage company over the Robinson cash and now Keith Vaz, minister for Europe, is being investigated by the Standards Commissioner over receiving money from the Hindujas. Cronies
This is the area in which Labour excels. It has created a multitude of taskforces where numerous unelected party supporters wield power, not to mention packing the House of Lords with its supporters and rich donors. Special advisers have proliferated and the power of Blair's inner circle rages unchecked. Yet the voters don't seem to notice. |