Nu Labour - Daggers out as the blame shifting starts over dodgy donors

Now here's a funny thing .. if you want to go to the No 10 Downing street site to get the official record of the PM's Press Conference you will find that a great deal is missing / redacted / removed . e.g it starts ....

Prime Minister:
[party political content]
Question:
[party political content]
Prime Minister:
[party political content]
Question:
[party political content]
Prime Minister:
[party political content]
I think everybody has known that when Lord Hayden Phillips was looking at party funding that things had to change. We have been waiting for the results of his review to see what has to be done.
[party political content]
Question:
[party political content]
...and so on until we get to the naming of Teddy Bears.

If you follow the link to helpful notes on transcript editing you get ..

Sometimes it is necessary to edit the transcripts. This is either because in accordance with long-standing practice under the Ministerial and Civil Service codes, government websites cannot carry party political content, or because the audio quality has made it impossible to transcribe

Which is odd because there were one or two journalists hanging about with cameras, recorders and note books at the time to provide a precise record.

Now we have Dizzy saying that ...

It's being reported on the newswire that Peter Hain has failed to register a donation of £5000 from, of all people, Jon Mendelsohn?!?!

The Guradian confirm this and say the "failure to register was due to an "administrative error" he had not told the Electoral Commission. Although he registered other gifts it is understood the donation was overlooked because it arrived later, in June."

Dizzy also has fascinating information on the development work of Sterling Capitol Group PLC and it's chairman Bob Murray CBE and their extensive and large donations to Labour Party coffers.

..and the Evening Standard saying that Jon Mendelsohn ...

Had suggested that he could help the campaign access a "network" of third-party donors who would offer a way to avoid the difficulties caused by the cash-for-peerages affair.

The Labour donor affair crept closer to Gordon Brown today amid claims that
his chief fundraiser suggested the use of third party payments.

The Evening Standard has been told that Jon Mendelsohn approached the organisers of a Labour deputy leadership campaign more than eight months ago.

Amid increasing pressure for a police investigation, (now underway) the claims about Mr Mendelsohn's role raise fresh questions over what and when the Prime Minister and his staff knew about the practice of using go-betweens.

The Evening Standard has established that Mr Mendelsohn was in contact with not just one, but two deputy campaigns and discussed fundraising.

Which might make any self respecting , honest, reputable Fund Rasing Chief to the Prime Minister ( who Guido fawkes points out is now also Labour Party General Secretary - and responsible for declaring donations to the Electoral Commission) would reach for a handy lawyer to fire off a nasty letter..at least.

Now the Guradian today report that Harriet is fingering ex minister and ex MP for Shipley Christopher Leslie .."(he)had suggested she seek a donation from Janet Kidd, Abrahams' secretary - despite having himself rejected her money for the Brown campaign." see his statement in full at Daily Telegraph also a statement by Baroness Gale of Blaenrhondda, treasurer to the Harriet Harman for Deputy leader campaign

"As part of our fundraising effort, the campaign team approached Chris Leslie at the end of June, .....Contact was made with Janet Kidd, a donor to the Labour Party of long standing, who then sent us a donation for £5,000. We had no reason to believe that this donation was coming from anyone other than Janet Kidd. Harriet Harman first heard about this on Friday ......... ( and hubby had nothing to do with it !) .....The Harriet Harman for Deputy campaign was not put in touch with Janet Kidd by Jack Dromey."

Strange how every body deals with Ms Kidd but no-one knows who the fuck she is.

PS: Hilary Armstrong and her husband Paul Corrigan both resigned from the Government and its services when Gordon Brown arrived and will naturally be upset at the difficulties that Gordon Brown finds himself in .. as will their close friend wife beater Alan Milburn.