Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria etc were said most corrupted countries, what about this guy and his peers? Please see the cartoons below.... Thanks. Police quiz Blair inside Downing St on peerages Patrick Wintour, Vikram Dodd and Will Woodward Friday December 15, 2006
Tony Blair yesterday became the first serving prime minister to be interviewed as part of a criminal investigation when Scotland Yard officers running the "cash for peerages" inquiry questioned him for two hours in Downing Street. The prime minister kept the meeting with detectives a closely guarded secret, and did not even confide to members of his cabinet it was due to take place. Mr Blair was interviewed as a witness and not as a potential suspect, an indication that he is unlikely to face criminal charges himself. Downing Street and the Metropolitan police indicated privately that unless fresh evidence emerges they do not expect Mr Blair to be interviewed again. Police sources indicated, however, that the focus of their attention had swung back to Lord Levy, the party's chief fundraiser and Mr Blair's personal Middle East envoy. They stressed they had not chosen the timing of the interview with Mr Blair, leaving No 10 open to the charge that its officials had hoped to dampen the explosive impact of Mr Blair's interview in the cacophony of other events. The government selected yesterday to close 2,500 post offices, drop a Serious Fraud Office inquiry into allegations that BAE had paid bribes to senior figures in the Saudi royal family in return for contracts, and publish a white paper on the future of British airports. Lord Stevens had also made clear weeks ago that he intended to publish his report into the death of Princess Diana yesterday. Chris Grayling, a member of the shadow cabinet, said: "Five years after Labour launched the concept of burying bad news, Mr Blair's spin doctors are back to their old tricks." A Labour insider said it appeared to be "take out the trash day". Police questioned Mr Blair about the circumstances in which he nominated four party lenders for peerages, and whether there had been any conspiracy to keep from the Lords Appointments Commission that all four had lent the party considerable sums ahead of the 2005 election. Mr Blair was told before yesterday's interview that he would not be questioned under caution so he chose only to have a civil service notetaker present, rather than a lawyer. The prime minister kept the timing of the interview from some of his most senior officials as well as cabinet colleagues. Mr Blair's spokesman would not say how many officers were involved in the interview, although it is understood that Acting Deputy Assistant Commissioner John Yates, who is heading the inquiry, was not among them. Witness interviews are not usually tape recorded and those being questioned are free to leave at any time. Mr Blair's official spokesman was only informed after the interview had been completed and within 20 minutes hastily convened a briefing of political journalists in the Commons. During the course of yesterday's questioning, Mr Blair was said to have defended his actions in awarding the peerages in terms he has used in public before. The four nominations under question are those offered to Barry Townsley, Chai Patel, Sir David Garrard and Sir Gulam Noon. Collectively they lent Labour £4.25m ahead of the 2005 election. Mr Blair's spokesman said: "The prime minister explained why he nominated each of the individuals and he did so as party leader in respect of the peerages reserved for party supporters as other party leaders do. The honours were not, therefore, for public service but expressly party peerages given for party service. In these circumstances, the fact that they had supported the party financially could not conceivably be a barrier to their nomination." Mr Blair apparently robustly pointed out that party donors are in themselves carrying out a public service. But the Lords Appointments Commission blocked the nominations only after learning the quartet had lent money to the party. It is alleged that Lord Levy advised the four to give loans, and even suggested they change their nomination forms to remove any reference to a financial connection. Commercial loans do not have to be disclosed in public, either to the government regulator, the Electoral Commission, or to the Lords Appointments Commission. If the police are to place charges against Lord Levy, they would have to have secured witness statements from some of the nominees saying that Lord Levy suggested their cash would lead to a peerage. Lord Levy was contacted by Labour shortly before the last election to undertake a last-minute fundraising spree, as it became clear the Conservatives were going to greatly outspend Labour. Although it is conceivable the police will re-interview Mr Blair, and this time under caution, the guidance suggested this is not the case. The prime minister's spokesman said: "I have no reason to believe that there will be any other interviews. That's a matter for the police. I don't talk to the police." Asked whether Mr Blair had got the impression he faced another interview, he replied: "I say that with good reason." However, Angus MacNeil, the Scottish National party MP whose complaint triggered the investigation, said that Mr Blair could face further questioning. "This revelation will be shaking the very foundations of Westminster," he said. "We know that a number of Downing Street officials have been questioned many times by the police and this could be only the first of such a series of questions for the prime minister, also." The Metropolitan police wants to put a file to the Crown Prosecution Service's lawyer in the new year. Detectives have already sent material including potentially incriminating emails and other documents from those involved in the money-raising process for Labour to the CPS for their advice. Prosecutors have been giving their assessments of the strength of evidence and on investigative avenues detectives may want to follow. - Arif London, UK - Read (or listen) Koran - The Last Testament. ___________________________________________________________ Now you can scan emails quickly with a reading pane. Get the new Yahoo! Mail. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html
