Saturday, July 15, 2006
LABOUR SLEAZIER
Labour 'sleazier than Major's Tories'
By George Jones, Political Editor, Daily Telegraph
(Filed: 15/07/2006)
The public regards Tony Blair's government as sleazier than John Major's, which New Labour swept from power nine years ago, a poll for The Daily Telegraph says today.
It shows that Labour's reputation for honesty and integrity has been demolished by a series of scandals, culminating in the allegations of cash for peerages.
In the past nine months David Blunkett has resigned from the Cabinet for a second time; Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, split from her husband after allegations about his business interests; John Prescott was stripped of his department after an affair with his secretary; and the police have questioned Lord Levy, the Prime Minister's chief fund-raiser, and two ministers over party funding.
The YouGov survey says that 69 per cent of the public regard Labour as "very sleazy and disreputable", compared with 63 per cent of voters who thought the same of the last Conservative government. Nine years ago only 19 per cent of voters thought that Labour gave the impression of being disreputable.
The public belief that Labour in power is sleazier than the Tories is a humiliation for Mr Blair, who in 1997 pledged that his Government would be "whiter than white".
Labour promised to clean up politics, end sleaze and reform party funding. But Mr Blair and his close associates are at the centre of the storm over peerages because they tried to circumvent the funding rules that Labour introduced by taking secret loans instead of declarable donations.
The poll shows strong public backing for the investigation by Scotland Yard into whether honours were offered in return for loans and donations. A large majority suspects that Labour raised money in that way and thinks that Mr Blair and those around him had a good idea of what was going on.
Mr Blair, who flies to St Petersburg today for the G8 summit, looked strained as he refused to comment on the disclosure that Scotland Yard had questioned Lord Sainsbury, the science minister, and Ian McCartney, the former party chairman and now a trade minister, who was interviewed as a witness.
"You wouldn't expect me to and I am not going to comment on any of these inquiries," he told a Downing Street press conference.
The poll findings will increase the pressure on him to step down soon and allow the party to make a new start under Gordon Brown.
John McDonnell, a Left-wing Labour MP who yesterday launched a campaign to succeed Mr Blair, said that "spin and allegations of sleaze were causing decent people to lose trust in the party".
No 10 said the Met had not asked to interview Mr Blair. But after his return from his summer holiday next month, he is expected to become the first serving British prime minister to be questioned by the police as part of a corruption investigation.
David Cameron, the Conservative leader, was asked about the fact that more Tory than Labour figures had been interviewed by the police.
He said: "The police must go ahead with their inquiries in the way they see fit."
By George Jones, Political Editor, Daily Telegraph
(Filed: 15/07/2006)
The public regards Tony Blair's government as sleazier than John Major's, which New Labour swept from power nine years ago, a poll for The Daily Telegraph says today.
It shows that Labour's reputation for honesty and integrity has been demolished by a series of scandals, culminating in the allegations of cash for peerages.
In the past nine months David Blunkett has resigned from the Cabinet for a second time; Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, split from her husband after allegations about his business interests; John Prescott was stripped of his department after an affair with his secretary; and the police have questioned Lord Levy, the Prime Minister's chief fund-raiser, and two ministers over party funding.
The YouGov survey says that 69 per cent of the public regard Labour as "very sleazy and disreputable", compared with 63 per cent of voters who thought the same of the last Conservative government. Nine years ago only 19 per cent of voters thought that Labour gave the impression of being disreputable.
The public belief that Labour in power is sleazier than the Tories is a humiliation for Mr Blair, who in 1997 pledged that his Government would be "whiter than white".
Labour promised to clean up politics, end sleaze and reform party funding. But Mr Blair and his close associates are at the centre of the storm over peerages because they tried to circumvent the funding rules that Labour introduced by taking secret loans instead of declarable donations.
The poll shows strong public backing for the investigation by Scotland Yard into whether honours were offered in return for loans and donations. A large majority suspects that Labour raised money in that way and thinks that Mr Blair and those around him had a good idea of what was going on.
Mr Blair, who flies to St Petersburg today for the G8 summit, looked strained as he refused to comment on the disclosure that Scotland Yard had questioned Lord Sainsbury, the science minister, and Ian McCartney, the former party chairman and now a trade minister, who was interviewed as a witness.
"You wouldn't expect me to and I am not going to comment on any of these inquiries," he told a Downing Street press conference.
The poll findings will increase the pressure on him to step down soon and allow the party to make a new start under Gordon Brown.
John McDonnell, a Left-wing Labour MP who yesterday launched a campaign to succeed Mr Blair, said that "spin and allegations of sleaze were causing decent people to lose trust in the party".
No 10 said the Met had not asked to interview Mr Blair. But after his return from his summer holiday next month, he is expected to become the first serving British prime minister to be questioned by the police as part of a corruption investigation.
David Cameron, the Conservative leader, was asked about the fact that more Tory than Labour figures had been interviewed by the police.
He said: "The police must go ahead with their inquiries in the way they see fit."
