Lord Levy Arrested

Lord Levy after his arrest, July 12, 2006

Tony Blair‘s Top Fundraiser Arrested

James Kirkup
July 13th, 2006

THE tide of sleaze allegations threatening the Labour government came ever closer to Tony Blair yesterday as the Prime Minister’s personal fundraiser, Lord Levy, was arrested by police investigating claims of cash for peerages.

Lord Levy was questioned at a London police station and later released on bail. He is believed to have handed over documents relating to millions of pounds loaned to Labour last year. He has not been charged and denies all wrongdoing. The arrest left even senior members of the government shocked and Mr Blair’s opponents predicting the affair might yet spell the end of his premiership.

At the Prime Minister’s instigation, Lord Levy oversaw a fundraising drive that saw 12 wealthy men lend Labour almost £14 million in the run up to last year’s general election. Four were later nominated for seats in the House of Lords, but these were blocked by the independent Lords Appointments Commission on becoming aware of the loans.

	“Lord Levy is considered one of the most senior members of the British Jewish community. He has worked extensively raising money for Jewish causes and is the president of many Jewish organizations” — Haaretz

The loans were such a secret that even Jack Dromey, the Labour Party treasurer, has said he knew nothing of them. But Mr Blair said at a Downing Street press conference in March that he had known about the loans and approved of them.

Lord Levy’s arrest follows the latest twist in the saga, after it was reported the fundraiser told one of the men nominated for a peerage, Sir Gulam Noon, to withhold information about his loan from the appointments commission. Reports on Monday said Sir Gulam rewrote his nomination paper to omit his £250,000 loan, at the urging of Lord Levy.

The police inquiry into the “loans for peerages” affair was triggered by Angus MacNeil, the Scottish National Party MP for the Western Isles, who asked Scotland Yard to examine whether the Labour Party had broken a 1925 law that prohibits the sale of peerages and political honours.

But in a significant escalation of the political stakes, Scotland Yard last night disclosed that Lord Levy is also suspected of breaking the Political Parties, Elections and Referendum Act 2000. Labour passed that law, which obliges parties to declare publicly major financial donations….(Full Article)