AADHIKAROnline told you so, again. That "Dave" Cameron HAS BEEN more vulnerable than even Peter Cruddas exhibited in his bragging to the SUNDAY TIMES!

AADHIKAROnline told you so, again. That "Dave" Cameron HAS BEEN more vulnerable than even Peter Cruddas exhibited in his bragging to the SUNDAY TIMES!

0140 GMT London Monday 26 March 2012.
Editor © Muhammad Haque.


from the London DAILY MAIL web site


Donors' secret No. 10 dinners: How Dave and Sam's meals with millionaires forced Tory treasurer to quit • Peter Cruddas offered access to PM in return for cash
• He suggested donors who agreed to give £250,000 a year would have their ideas 'fed in' to Downing Street
• Undercover reporters told they could dine with Mr Cameron, George Osborne and senior ministers
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'Bigger donors' visited David and wife Samantha's apartment, he claimed • Mr Miliband called revelations 'disturbing'
• Mr Cameron said Cruddas's comments were 'unacceptable' By
JASON GROVES

PUBLISHED:

UPDATED:
00:25, 26 March 2012 •
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• David Cameron was engulfed in a sleaze storm last night as it emerged he and wife Samantha have hosted secret dinners in their Downing Street flat for millionaire Conservative donors.
Government sources were forced to admit the existence of the intimate dinners after Tory Party treasurer Peter Cruddas was secretly filmed boasting that he could provide direct access to the Prime Minister for ‘Premier League’ donors. Sources insisted that guests at the secret No 10 dinners were not invited because they were donors and they had no influence on policy. Close relationship: Tory treasurer Peter Cruddas, left, boasted that he could give donors private access to David Cameron, right A source said it was ‘simply untrue’ to suggest donors were able to buy access or influence, adding: ‘This was never in exchange for anything. 'The PM is entitled to meet with people even if they happen to have given money to the party.’ More... • Tories lurching from 'one City spiv to the next in their search for a Treasurer' • ANDREW PIERCE: Barrow boy with the Midas touch • It'll be awesome for your business: Tory treasurer told donors they could have access to PM and influence policy But the revelation threatened to bring the ‘cash for access’ scandal to the very heart of Downing Street. Mr Cruddas, a multi-millionaire who was forced to quit as soon as the revelations became public, suggested major donors who agreed to give £250,000 a year would have their concerns and ideas ‘fed in’ directly to the Downing Street policy unit. Enlarge
He told undercover reporters posing as wealthy foreign businessmen that they could expect to attend dinners with Mr Cameron, Chancellor George Osborne and senior ministers if they donated enough cash.
'Business deals': Mr Cruddas was secretly filmed telling undercover reporters he could arrange private meetings with senior Conservatives
He went on: ‘Some of our bigger donors have been for dinner in No 10 Downing Street, in the Prime Minister’s private apartment, with Samantha.’
Tory donors invited for dinner are believed to have included billionaire City businessman Michael Spencer, himself a former party treasurer.
Government sources last night said no donation had been offered or accepted, and claimed that Mr Cruddas was acting as a rogue operator whose boasts broke party rules.
But the revelation that the Prime Minister has hosted private dinners for donors could leave him open to accusations that he has breached his own ministerial code, which requires ministers to avoid any activity that could be perceived as improper.
In another ominous twist, the Metropolitan Police were last night asked to investigate suggestions that Mr Cruddas or others may have accepted donations from wealthy foreigners – which is illegal under British electoral law.
Mr Cameron described Mr Cruddas’s comments as ‘completely unacceptable’, adding: ‘This is not the way that we raise money in the Conservative Party, it shouldn’t have happened.’
The Prime Minister said he was ordering an internal inquiry into the affair. Sources initially suggested it would be led by the party’s co-chairman Lord Feldman, who recruited Mr Cruddas and was effectively his line manager. But the idea was dropped after critics questioned whether Lord Feldman, Mr Cameron’s former tennis partner and closest friend in politics, was sufficiently independent.
Appalled: Sir Christopher Kelly, Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said the revelations were 'not an isolated incident' while Labour leader Ed Miliband called the news 'disturbing'
Labour called for an independent inquiry and will today press Mr Cameron to make a full Commons statement on the affair.
Ed Miliband said: ‘These are very disturbing revelations. The Conservative Party has been seeking cash in exchange for access to the Prime Minister and Chancellor and indeed influence over policy making. ‘It’s no way to run a Government or a political party and these allegations can’t be swept under the carpet. There needs to be a proper independent investigation into whether influence was sought, what influence was gained and what impact it had.’
Sir Christopher Kelly, chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, last night warned that the revelations were ‘not an isolated incident’.
He added: ‘As long as we have a system in which the main political parties are reliant on very large donations from very rich individuals – or organisations, in the case of the Labour Party – then events of this kind are almost bound to happen.
‘It is a cancer which needs to be addressed.’ Downing Street last night said it was fast-tracking cross-party talks on reform of party funding. A source said: ‘Clearly the current set-up is not ideal.’ The revelations are deeply embarrassing for Mr Cameron, who pledged two years ago to crack down on the shadowy world of lobbying.
The existence of secret dinners with donors also undermines the Coalition’s much-vaunted transparency drive, which allows the public to see who ministers have met in their official capacity.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2120293/Donors-secret-No-10-dinners-How-Dave-Sams-meals-millionaires-forced-Tory-treasurer-quit.html#ixzz1qBJXbckJ


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