Corporate corruption is alive, well, and plain to see in the modern Conservative Party
Here’s a Conservative MP who doesn’t mind taking cash in return for Parliamentary action: Nigel Huddleston.
He has taken £3,000 from the boss of Travelodge and £2K from the CEO of Butlins parent Bourne Leisure, and is now demanding huge tax cuts for tourist attractions.
The donations have been openly registered, indicating that Tory MPs are happy to put their corruption on show, for all to see.
A Tory MP who is calling for huge tax cuts for tourist attractions was given donations by hotel bosses.
Newly elected Nigel Huddleston leads eight MPs who want VAT cuts of up to £20billion to boost hotels and tourist attractions.
Backed by the British Hospitality Association, they are urging VAT on tourism is slashed from 20% to 5% to compete abroad.
But the Mid Worcs MP accepted a £3,000 election gift from Travelodge chief Peter Gowers and £2,000 from John Dunford, CEO of Butlins firm Bourne Leisure.
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Is this not similar to Labour MPs being sponsored by trade unions and then voting against legislation to curb strikes.
No. What a silly suggestion.
It is exactly the same. It is about self interest, protectionism and paid for patronage. That is why the unions are desperate for Corbyn to be elected. He will be more maliable.
Nonsense. Legislation to curb strikes is anti-democratic. Labour supports democracy; Tories do not.
@hayfords
Unions act for their members made up of millions of working people. The Tories act to further the interests of the few filthy rich together with criminal banksters.
exactly. the toreis take bribes and then give them peerages in the house of lords. their corruption knows no bounds.
Hayfords , when it comes to buying influence, it may have escaped your attention but the £millions donated to the Labour party by the unions got them precisely nothing during Labour’s term in office.
Cameron gets a bung for the Conservative coffers and he is asked to jump he asks how high.
I have been a union member for around 50 years but I have never paid the political levy.
I also will not have a vote in the Labour leadership contest.
I have thought for a long time that the Tories generally have not bothered to hide their dirty corrupt practices.
No. It is to curb abuses by unions. Take two examples, one recent and one in the past. Throughout the miners strike Scargill would not let the miners vote on the strike because he would have lost the vote. That is undemocratic and abuse of the striking miners. Secondly in Feb this year RMT went on strike over the sacking of a tube driver who failed two separate random breath tests.
It is interesting to note that Labour has never repealed a single piece of union legislation. That is because they agree with the laws, but where too frightened to pass them in case their paymasters got uppety. Labour tried to pass similar legislation under Wilson/Callaghan but failed to get agreement.
What are you trying to prove with this? The Scargill case is well-known and isolated, and the RMT case (with which I’m not familiar) happened more than 30 years later. Hardly evidence of widescale abuse.
Plus man hours lost to strikes per annum are at their lowest level for decades.
Well said and well written Mike!
I agree with you Mike and it rather looks to me as though Hayfords accepts both and can’t differentiate between the two.
This prat is just seeking to exploit his position for the maximum gain to himself. A trait common in Tories who then expect fools in the general public to see the connections with the Unions. The effects of big business are much more covert then plain corruption like this fool and this is where the Unions do not go.
It is not a shock that Tories are so corrupt, since they have been in government it has been one squalid little scam, one after another. It is that they value democracy and the people of this country and even there own integrity so little.
“Newly elected Nigel Huddleston leads eight MPs who want VAT cuts of up to £20billion to boost hotels and tourist attractions”
This all party group includes:
Margaret Ritchie MP (SDLP)
Albert Owen MP (Labour)
Dr Philippa Whitford MP (SNP)
Mark Williams MP (Liberal Democrat)
Caroline Lucas MP (Green)
Sammy Wilson MP (DUP)
Danny Kinahan MP (UUP)
Hywel Williams MP (Plaid Cymru)
Are they all corrupt too?
Who is paying them?
If they are not corrupt how is it they cannot see the corruption that you can?
You claim it will be a VAT of £20bn – sorry that is just not possible
This group claims the following:
1. Over time, more tax will be raised by the Exchequer £3.9 billion over 10 years.
2. Improve the UK trade balance by £20 billion over 10 years.
3. Create 123,000 new jobs.
4. Increase the competitiveness of regions that rely heavily on tourism, such as seaside and rural communities.
5. Fairer and cheaper for consumers holidaying in the UK.
6. Help low earners who are disproportionately affected by VAT.
I myself find their claims unlikely, Huddlestone is however an expert in travel and tourism – I am not.
I can’t comment on the others.
I haven’t claimed anything about the amount of money concerned – the Mirror did that.
I think you are correct to find the claims you list unlikely.
To clarify, are you arguing with the message of the article, which is that this man accepted money from interested parties and is now campaigning to help them win a pecuniary advantage that they do not currently enjoy – actions that would qualify him for an accusation of corruption?
If he were directly supported by a Union representing hotel workers would you view that as corruption too?
He isn’t. Let’s deal with the realities of the situation.
No, let’s deal with being totally consistent about MPs looking after the special interest of minority groups after taking payments from them.
How many Labour MPs are directly supported by unions to look after their interests over the interests of their constituents? (Remember union membership is falling and they now only represent a tiny proportion of the population)
Like a politician you also dodged my earlier questions
Here they are again (plus one extra one)
The all party group lead by Huddleston includes:
Margaret Ritchie MP (SDLP)
Albert Owen MP (Labour)
Dr Philippa Whitford MP (SNP)
Mark Williams MP (Liberal Democrat)
Caroline Lucas MP (Green)
Sammy Wilson MP (DUP)
Danny Kinahan MP (UUP)
Hywel Williams MP (Plaid Cymru)
It is this group that has made the proposal that you misquoted
1. Are they all corrupt too?
2. Who is paying them to promote this evil scheme?
3. If they are not corrupt how is it they cannot see the corruption that you can?
4. The main beneficiaries from the all party group proposal are said to be 123,000 workers in the Hotel and Tourism industry – is that a good or bad thing?
(You blame the Mirror for your errors in the figures – please check the facts for you stories more thoroughly – better still don’t trust the Mirror)
Unions aren’t minority groups. In any case, the Labour Party was created by unions in order to give workers representation in Parliament – actually widening the number of people who were being represented by MPs. Your claim that Labour MPs may be looking after union concerns over those of other constituents is therefore false.
In any case, look at the current Labour Party and its issues with unions. Your argument is a straw man; it bears no resemblance to reality.
While union membership is falling, unions still represent a large amount of the population – not the tiny proportion you claim.
As for your claims about misquoting and checking the facts – I was reblogging the Mirror’s story and commenting on it. Please check YOUR facts before you go attacking other people indiscriminately. You claim that the proposals have been misquoted but we have yet to see any reference to what you might call the correct figures. Do you have any, or are you just trolling?
You come across as a person with a political agenda, determined to cause as much trouble as you possibly can. I notice also that you post under a pseudonym. Are you being paid to come here and write these things? Who is your paymaster? What is the source of your information?
Let’s have it.
Unions aren’t minority groups – Sorry they are – “In 2009 23.5% of the UK workforce belonged to a trade union while 46.6% were employed in a workplace where a trade union was present. Figures also show that 61.1% of trade union members worked in the public sector” http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/apr/30/union-membership-data
“As for your claims about misquoting and checking the facts – I was reblogging the Mirror’s story and commenting on it” – but not checking it.
“You come across as a person with a political agenda” – as do you.
In 2015, around 24 per cent of the electorate voted in a Conservative government. If trade union membership in the workforce – at roughly the same level of the relevant societal group – is a minority, then you are admitting that we have a government elected by a minority and therefore that its mandate is as questionable as you claim trade union influence should be.
As a news reporter myself, and someone who has had recent dealings with Mirror staff, I have more faith in their accuracy than yours. For example, you aren’t a journalist, even though you describe yourself as one. I notice no correction has been forthcoming so far.
I certainly do have a political agenda, and the exposure of corruption is most definitely part of that agenda.
How is it these dirty tories seem to be well above the law?, I really dont understand why. ( I have dementia and im terrified for my family’s future, ill be ok because ill be locked away.in maybe a year or two and I probably will not know anything different.
WHY HAVE THEY BEEN ALLOWED TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER? OF OUR SICK AND DISABLED?
How about giving disabled people tax relief on the VAT they have to pay to live?
How about giving disabled people tax relief on the VAT they have to pay to stay ALIVE, then?
Don’t forget that Labour has taken money from hedge fund managers, such as Martin Taylor who gave £600,000. They have handed out peerages to lobbyists. Gordon Brown and Tony Blair used to cosy up to Murdoch far more that any government since.
Nonsense. George Osborne, Jeremy Hunt and David Cameron have taken their orders directly from Murdoch. You only have to look at recent news to see that.
As for your comments about where Labour has had its money, you should know that you can’t win an argument by saying the other side is as bad as yours; it doesn’t justify what your side has done.
“As for your comments about where Labour has had its money, you should know that you can’t win an argument by saying the other side is as bad as yours”
No, but when you report details of what you see as corruption you should not be selective to promote a political party above another. Surely you should highlighting all corruption in Parliament and encouraging others to post examples here shouldn’t you?
What examples of corruption and crimes committed by left-wing politician have been reported on your blog to date? I guess none, yet Labour holds the record for convicted MP fraudsters by a considerable margin.
Do your homework.
I’m glad to see that you aren’t willing to defend the man at the centre of the article. We’ll accept your agreement that he is corrupt.
Incidentally, your email address suggests you belong to a company that provides speakers for financial training of some kind (the website is extremely quiet about exactly what it does), yet you describe yourself as “Journo”. False flag?
Mike, the UK’s intelligence services ie MI5 and GCHQ aren’t independent but right wing and highly partisan. Not “conspiracy theory” but fact. Look at the way the spooks repeatedly tried to destabilise Wilson’s governments of the ’60s and ’70s and listening to the Benn Tapes proves the spooks had it in for Tony Benn. Now it appears that Tory shills are paid by the likes of GCQH to troll social media in order to disrupt and attack any left-wing activity. Are you listening “hayfords” and “Journo”? BTW “The Benn Tapes” 1 and 2 are available on Amazon to download, or wait for them to come up on Radio 4 again.
“We’ll accept your agreement that he is corrupt” – I have not made that argument, the absence of coverage of this “story” suggest few other believe this presents any evidence of corruption too.
False Flags are a popular theme amongst conspiracy theorists – feel free to construct any conspiracy theory you like.
I think I have made my point so I will not comment further
It was a Mirror exclusive.
See wildswimmerpete’s comments about right-whingers and their opinions of conspiracy theories. Wasn’t it a right-winger who first coined that phrase?
You haven’t made any point at all.