ChatterBank1 min ago
Prime Minister arrested?
As a result of the recent 'honours for cash' scandal, it looks a distinct possibility that Mr Blair could well be arrested.
Have any previous UK Prime Ministers even been arrested? Have any ever been charged with anything? Convicted?
Have any previous UK Prime Ministers even been arrested? Have any ever been charged with anything? Convicted?
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Given that the olice didn't have enough evidence to charge Levy and considering that they'd need to produce a direct link between the loans and the honours I think the prospects of Blair being arrested falls into the category of wishfull thinking.
I'm not aware of any Prime minister being charged with anything, Johnathen Aitkin of course was a cabinet minister under John Major and was charged, prosecuted and served 7 months in prison for perjury and perverting the course of Justice.
Of course Lloyd George sold honours by the bucket load resulting in the honours and prevention of abuses act which is being considered now. Maundy Gregory is the only person ever to have been convicted under this law.
Of course the Tory's have never made public a full list of those who leant them money - a number are known to be foreign nationals - as they can provide names for honours too it might get interesting
I'm not aware of any Prime minister being charged with anything, Johnathen Aitkin of course was a cabinet minister under John Major and was charged, prosecuted and served 7 months in prison for perjury and perverting the course of Justice.
Of course Lloyd George sold honours by the bucket load resulting in the honours and prevention of abuses act which is being considered now. Maundy Gregory is the only person ever to have been convicted under this law.
Of course the Tory's have never made public a full list of those who leant them money - a number are known to be foreign nationals - as they can provide names for honours too it might get interesting
Here is a list of all Prime Ministers, but I am unable to think of one that was arrested;
Walpole, Wilmington, Pelham, Newcastle, Devonshire, Newcastle, Bute, G Grenville, Rockingham, Chatham, Grafton, North, Rockingham, Shelburne, Portland, Pitt the Younger, Addington, Pitt the Younger, W Grenville, Portland, Perceval, Liverpool, Canning, Goderich, Wellington, Grey, Melbourne, Peel, Melbourne, Peel, Russell, Derby, Aberdeen, Palmerston, Derby, Palmerston, Russell, Derby, Disraeli, Gladstone, Disraeli, Gladstone, Salisbury, Gladstone, Salisbury, Gladstone, Rosebery, Salisbury, Balfour, Campbell-Bannerman, Asquith, Lloyd George, Bonar Law, Baldwin, MacDonald, Baldwin, MacDonald, Baldwin, Chamberlain, Churchill, Attlee, Churchill, Eden, Macmillan, Douglas-Home, Wilson, Heath, Wilson, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major and, of course, Blair.
I do not understand why Mr Aitken is singled out for derogatory mention. He was not a Prime Minister but was, and still is, a decent man.
Walpole, Wilmington, Pelham, Newcastle, Devonshire, Newcastle, Bute, G Grenville, Rockingham, Chatham, Grafton, North, Rockingham, Shelburne, Portland, Pitt the Younger, Addington, Pitt the Younger, W Grenville, Portland, Perceval, Liverpool, Canning, Goderich, Wellington, Grey, Melbourne, Peel, Melbourne, Peel, Russell, Derby, Aberdeen, Palmerston, Derby, Palmerston, Russell, Derby, Disraeli, Gladstone, Disraeli, Gladstone, Salisbury, Gladstone, Salisbury, Gladstone, Rosebery, Salisbury, Balfour, Campbell-Bannerman, Asquith, Lloyd George, Bonar Law, Baldwin, MacDonald, Baldwin, MacDonald, Baldwin, Chamberlain, Churchill, Attlee, Churchill, Eden, Macmillan, Douglas-Home, Wilson, Heath, Wilson, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major and, of course, Blair.
I do not understand why Mr Aitken is singled out for derogatory mention. He was not a Prime Minister but was, and still is, a decent man.
In 1997 Mr Aitken a former Defence Procurement Minister and Chief Secretary to the Treasury tried to sue the Guardian newspaper and Granada TV in the High Court over allegations about his links with wealthy Saudi businessmen. Upon launching his case he announced, sanctimoniously "If it falls to me to start a fight to cut out the cancer of bent and twisted journalism in our country with the simple sword of truth and the trusty shield of fair play, so be it."
The case collapsed after it emerged he lied in court about aides to the Saudi royal family settling his hotel bill at the Paris Ritz in 1993. He claimed his wife had paid his bill. It had been shown that his bill had, in fact, been setlled by the Saudis. In 1999 he was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment after admitting perjury and perverting the course of justice, as a result of telling those lies. Soon afterwards
He was declared bankrupt by the High Court. He claimed to have been forced into bankruptcy by the Guardian and Granada's refusal to accept a cash settlement of his outstanding legal bill. The Guardian rejected his reasons for bankruptcy, saying 'he has not paid a penny' of the bill he promised to pay 80% of.
Before and in-between all this he was embroiled in charges under the Official Secrets Act, the "Arms-to-Iraq" affair and was named in a "cash for questions" investigation.
He was not a Prime Minister and therefore may have no place in this thread, but where does Mr Aitken's "decency" stem from?
The case collapsed after it emerged he lied in court about aides to the Saudi royal family settling his hotel bill at the Paris Ritz in 1993. He claimed his wife had paid his bill. It had been shown that his bill had, in fact, been setlled by the Saudis. In 1999 he was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment after admitting perjury and perverting the course of justice, as a result of telling those lies. Soon afterwards
He was declared bankrupt by the High Court. He claimed to have been forced into bankruptcy by the Guardian and Granada's refusal to accept a cash settlement of his outstanding legal bill. The Guardian rejected his reasons for bankruptcy, saying 'he has not paid a penny' of the bill he promised to pay 80% of.
Before and in-between all this he was embroiled in charges under the Official Secrets Act, the "Arms-to-Iraq" affair and was named in a "cash for questions" investigation.
He was not a Prime Minister and therefore may have no place in this thread, but where does Mr Aitken's "decency" stem from?
No I'm perfectly old enough to remember the terrible Thatcher years ( born in 1960), but she was a TORY and you expect them to be w*****s. T ony B liar is allegedly a Labour prime minister and he's sold out every socialist in the country so I hate him more for being as crap as the tories and more two faced.
Actually Campbell Bannerman was the first to be given the title of prime minister. -
http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page141.asp
Things must have gone full circle because James I was selling baronetcies to raise money for war.
http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page141.asp
Things must have gone full circle because James I was selling baronetcies to raise money for war.
Interesting question there loosehead and I'm the first one to see the irony of it, but the bottom line of the whole thing was that I went to prison for violence, which I won't go into in detail about but didn't involve mugging an old lady or anything like that, and when I came out found that I was pretty much unemployable as a result, which since I had a family of, at the time, very young children left me with the huge dilemma of siging on and bringing them up on benefits which really stuck in my throat because I was capable of work etc and it's not a great role model if your capable of working for your kids but don't, or of starting my own business, so I started my own business. I have several very sucessful businesses now but I do try to run them as ethically as possible and wherever possible put something positive back into society. I really lament the descent we've had into the material although at the same time it puts me in a stronger position to help people that I see needing it, so I'm fairly ethically conflicted theoretically, but in practice it's nice to be comfortable and to be able to help people who need it when they need it, for example I rent out a lot of the houses I buy to vulnerable adults or families trying to escape violence which I'd never have been able to do had I just been working in the local library, so I don't feel too bad about it, but deep down I'm a dyed in wool socialist who loves the idea of a supportive but not intrusive free society.
Thanks, for that Nox I appreciate your candour. Can you not see though that you are a wealth creator, they are loathed as "them" in the us v them mentality of your socialist.
I come from a poor family both parents hardly ever worked we lived on benefits most of the time. I feel I have now repaid all of those benefits and more but the one thing it has taught me is that the world does not owe you a living.
Socialism requires that human nature be transplanted, it doesn't matter where you start there will always be have's and have nots. Socialism requires that we all pull for the state and each have what we need from the others, a laudible aim and ironically I'd cooperate with such a system if it worked. But human nature always overides it so you get an elite running the country (See USSR) and a sub underclass upon which socialism is imposed. QED it always collapses, see also USSR.
I come from a poor family both parents hardly ever worked we lived on benefits most of the time. I feel I have now repaid all of those benefits and more but the one thing it has taught me is that the world does not owe you a living.
Socialism requires that human nature be transplanted, it doesn't matter where you start there will always be have's and have nots. Socialism requires that we all pull for the state and each have what we need from the others, a laudible aim and ironically I'd cooperate with such a system if it worked. But human nature always overides it so you get an elite running the country (See USSR) and a sub underclass upon which socialism is imposed. QED it always collapses, see also USSR.
Of course socialism isn't the only form of government that tends to collapse in under itself.
There are enough right wing dictatorships out there that have done the same thing - indeed yuo could well argue that in reality the USSR left socialism for dictatorship certainly by the time Stalin seized power,
I broght up Aitkin because as far as I'm aware he is the most senior politician to have been arrested and served time for a criminal offense.
That nice man was up to his neck in the arms trade.
His close friend who paid his bill was Mohammed Said Ayas - He ran Hyde park holdings who organised a deal to supply arms to the Iranians as supplied by guess who Oliver North!
I also recall some accusations that he had financial interests in a factory in Scotland that produced items like electric batons for sale to the Saudis - I don't know for certain if that was true.
I guess we must give Aitkin the benefit of the doubt as far as turning over a new leaf and finding God etc. but to was he was a decent man beggers belief.
Perhaps he's evidence that prison can reform
There are enough right wing dictatorships out there that have done the same thing - indeed yuo could well argue that in reality the USSR left socialism for dictatorship certainly by the time Stalin seized power,
I broght up Aitkin because as far as I'm aware he is the most senior politician to have been arrested and served time for a criminal offense.
That nice man was up to his neck in the arms trade.
His close friend who paid his bill was Mohammed Said Ayas - He ran Hyde park holdings who organised a deal to supply arms to the Iranians as supplied by guess who Oliver North!
I also recall some accusations that he had financial interests in a factory in Scotland that produced items like electric batons for sale to the Saudis - I don't know for certain if that was true.
I guess we must give Aitkin the benefit of the doubt as far as turning over a new leaf and finding God etc. but to was he was a decent man beggers belief.
Perhaps he's evidence that prison can reform
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