Friday, October 24, 2008

Guido Fawkes: Grasping At "Foreigner" Name Calling


Guido is in a time warp with an attack on previous Labour donors to try to deflect from Osborne's woes with Oleg. In particular he brings up Lakshmi Mittal the ever-grinning Londoner with some strange slight on him being "a foreigner". Guido is too. With Indian father and Irish mother and, I believe, avoid-ive non-domiciled status for tax to boot.

Not that he'll be donating. As he's a personal bankrupt and a drink-drive criminal. It would be too embarrassing for all concerned.

Over at Martin Bright's post at The New Statesman Guido comments:

guido
22 October 2008 at 17:33

£4,125,000 has been donated by Lakshmi Mittal through his British company to the Labour Party. Although a resident non-domiciled Indian national, it is from his British company, so no rules have been broken. But as an Indian, Mittal is a foreigner and his company made a donation to the Labour Party. Is it a foreign donation? Strictly speaking, no it is not. Was this the model suggested to Mittal? Who knows? As transparency in politics is something you are keen to promote, it would be interesting to see you clarify this.


But Guido's point about Mittal who has lived in London, UK for 14 years I understand, seems particularly disingenuous given the behaviour of the Lord Ashcroft who has donated a similar amount to Mittal via agent companies, presiding over its exact destinations himself, who is spectacularly non-resident, who has taken the Michael over "travel costs" loophole with his Flying Lion arrangements, and who famously only got his Lordship at the 3rd or whatever attempt because he promised to come and pay tax here.

I don't really think there is any high ground for any party on this. Each case on its merits. Mandelson doesn't actually have to do anything here. Immature Tory Boys will seek to damage him. And his Aikido skill will not kick in, but rather uses their hateful and careless momentum to send them flying.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Guido has shown he is noting more than a tory owned pile of rubbish. He lcaimed he would root out all corruption form politics but it seems if a tory does it he stands up for their honour what a pile of crap pass me thr sick bag. Guido is a friend of the tory establishment exaclty what he claimed he was not.
No one with more than half a pea brain. would think that Osbourne brough feldman a tory fundraiser on to the yacht with him for a game of boyfriend swapping. Guido is a pathetic case.

tory boys never grow up said...

Of course Guido didn't do his basic homework - Mittal made his donations as an individual and not through a company per the Electoral Commmission website. So Mittal is on the Electoral Register and as British as you or me - and certainly more British, and hence more entitled to interfere in British politics, than Guido and probably Baron Ashcroft. And then he has the cheek to accuse Mandelson of mud slinging.

Perhaps Mittal could do us all a service by using some of his wealth to pursue Guido for libel.

BTW it is not quite correct to say that Guido is a personal bankrupt - he was but I think he is now a discharged bankrupt and now fully qualified to dispense advice on financial and economic matters.