Reply #5: Great Britain: “Premeditated Peerage” - Blair knew of loans before handin

[autorank]

Say it’s not so Tony! Please! You have such a great accent, it sure fooled a lot of Americans into trusting you when you came here to sell Iraq. You are so earnest and important, busy all the time. Seems you’re just another political crook who returns favors for money. The real term here should have been “Premeditated Peerage.”;)


Blair knew of loans before picking peers

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2104207,00.html
Robert Winnett March 26, 2006

TONY BLAIR knew that four businessmen had secretly loaned millions of pounds to Labour when he put them forward for peerages, a Downing Street insider has disclosed.

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The disclosure shows for the first time Blair’s hands-on role in the loans for honours scandal. He is thought to be the only person involved in choosing nominees who was aware of the identities of the financial supporters.

He had previously accepted responsibility only for a loans scheme without admitting he was fully informed of who the lenders were. However, the insider said: “When Blair selected his shortlist of peers he was aware of which ones had given loans. He was given a long list of names to choose from and personally selected which ones to put forward. The prime minister knew exactly what was going on with the loans from the very beginning.”

It has also emerged that the Appointments Commission, the watchdog that vets peerages, warned Blair informally after the general election it would no longer tolerate unsuitable candidates who had financially supported parties being elevated to the Lords. The warning is understood to have been prompted by a number of Labour and Tory nominees in 2004.