Sleazy Levy uncooperative with Police

The 'Cash-for-Peerages' inquiry will be made longer, more difficult and more expensive thanks to Pop-Star impressario Lord 'sleazy' Levy's failure to answer police questions. The Times reports that he has adopted the perfectly legal tactic of making a statement then responding to all further police questions with "No comment".

This is the standard procedure for witnesses taking advantage of the legal principle that no witness or potential defendant is obliged to say anything which might incriminate them.

No doubt the Noble Lord took full account of the standard police caution too:

"You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."

Tells us all we need to know about Number 10's much vaunted 'full cooperation with the police' though doesn't it?

Tags: Cash for peerages, Lord Levy, Sleazy Levy

Ministerial Code and MP's Standards re-defined

From the standpoint of the rules governing MPs' and Ministers' behaviour, there were two issues at stake in the Prescott/Anschluz affair:

1. The requirement that gifts and hospitality be declared in the register of members' interests
2. The requirement that ministers should NOT accept hospitality in circumstances where it might place them (or appear to place them) under an obligation in relation to government business or contracts.

In light of the decisions of the Parliamentary Standards Committee on the Standards Commissioners report into the Prescott 'gifts to MP's' part of John Prescott's behaviour, both these rules have apparently been redefined:

1. MP's need no longer worry about punishment for breaching the registration of gifts or hospitality rules, so long as they register them immediately they are found out.
2. To all intents and purposes the ministerial code no longer applies since, so long as you admit to breaking it when found out, you are in the clear.

Read this transcript of today's Downing Street press briefing on the issue. It uses 10 times as many words to say exactly that, Over and over and over again.

Shopfting is A OK - just so long as you offer to pay when you get caught at it (Hat tip to Iain Dale)

Surreal !

Tags: John Prescott, Parliamentary Standards, Sleaze, Ministerial Code

Should Prescotution be legalised?

I took some advice from Chicken Yoghurt and nipped over to Simon Carr's new site. Agreed, definately one for the regular visit blogroll. Among a welter of juicy snippets I found this little gem:

"But with Blair hinting that he’ll be around for next year’s G8, the DPM fears he’ll have to stay the course as well. This is all a nightmare for him. As long as he’s there the press will flog away at him. It’s not the peccadilloes that worry him. Having sex with your diary secretary with the door open and civil servants in the next room - that’s a John-is-John misdemeanour. But - hypothetical question - what if he’d pushed the career of someone whom he’d been Prescotuting? Down to getting the person into Parliament? Wouldn’t that count as infringing the Ministerial Code?" [My emphasis]

Written in the context of Rosie Winterton's 'Clearly, clearly clearly clearly' prefixes during her regular health questions performances

I feel a new neologism coming on

Tags: John Prescott, Rosie Winterton, Sleaze, Prescotution