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By a Newsnet reporter

The MP who led the campaign on Blair’s cash for honours scandal has told the Prime Minister to “keep the Tory Party’s grubby hands off Scotland’s referendum”.

Angus MacNeil, MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, has pointed out that the newly resigned Tory treasurer Peter Cruddas personally largely financed the Tory Party’s campaign against the alternative vote through a donation of £1.2 million.

Mr Cruddas hurriedly resigned as Conservative co-treasurer late on Saturday night after the Sunday Times published a report and video allegedly showing Mr Cruddas offered access to senior Conservatives, including David Cameron, and influence on Conservative policy making, to business people prepared to make substantial donations to the party.

According to the Sunday Times, Mr Cruddas was led to believe that any prospective donations from the paper’s undercover reporters, who had told Mr Cruddas they were wealth fund executives, would come from Liechtenstein and so would be ineligible under election law.  The law specifies that political donations over £500 must come from a person registered to vote in the UK, or a UK registered company.

However Mr Cruddas is alleged to have discussed the possibility of the reporters creating a British subsidiary company and to use UK employees of that company in order to channel their putative donation and circumvent the law.

The Conservative party and Mr Cruddas have denied that there was any wrongdoing.  The party has promised to hold an investigation into the affair.

In the meeting with undercover journalists from the Sunday Times Mr Cruddas also revealed that he had an interest in Scotland’s referendum on independence, and had already discussed it with Prime Minister David Cameron.  Reportedly the pair referred to Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond as “the mad Scotsman”.

The revelation that a senior figure within the Conservative party was allegedly prepared to circumvent the law in order to raise donations from abroad will be of deep concern to people in Scotland.  It raises the alarming possibility that the anti-independence campaign could be funded in part by inadmissible donations from overseas, and means that Scots cannot have confidence in the Conservative anti-independence campaign until there has been a thorough investigation into Mr Cruddas’ dealings on behalf of the party.

Angus MacNeil said:

“These are dramatic revelations. It shows that Peter Cruddas, the man who financed the scuppering of the AV referendum, was already lining up with Cameron against the Scottish referendum.

“These devastating revelations show that under no circumstances should we allow Westminster involvement in running our referendum. The tightest rules on spending must be set in Scotland by the Scottish Parliament.

“Otherwise we will find Tories like Peter Cruddas raising money from Liechtenstein to attempt to buy the poll.

“We should tell Cameron to keep the Tory Party’s grubby hands off Scotland’s referendum.”

Comments  

 
# Barontorc 2012-03-25 23:17
Name and shame – go for it SNP. We cannot, simply cannot, go to sleep on this issue. The referendum probity will be under constant threat from the unionist side. Shout foul, loud and hard!

As for the “mad Scotsman” moniker, Call me Dave’s got it way wrong again – he should be calling it “MAD SCOTSMEN” and there’s big time problems for his Union coming up shortly!

Respect – don’t make us laugh!
 
 
# Fungus 2012-03-25 23:24
Quote:
he should be calling it “MAD SCOTSMEN”


and women
 
 
# Barontorc 2012-03-25 23:44
Of course, it’s implied – we ” MAD SCOTS ALL!

Bit, it jist disnae ring right – ok, keeze!
 
 
# Harry.Shanks 2012-03-26 08:31
Quoting Fungus:
Quote:
he should be calling it “MAD SCOTSMEN”


and women


This is progress – I would have expected a Eton-toff, Tory PM to refer to “the mad Scotch”
 
 
# nchanter 2012-03-26 16:21
Quoting Fungus:
Quote:
he should be calling it “MAD SCOTSMEN”


and women

I am still laughing at the song nutter than a nat. It kills me. any more.
 
 
# RoBell 2012-03-26 00:04
Mad?

No.

We are furious. Saor Alba.
 
 
# call me dave 2012-03-26 00:40
Scary Stories:

The torrent continues:


===================================



INDEPENDENT SCOTLAND’S DEBT BILL WOULD HIT £100BN


An independent Scotland would have to shoulder £100billion of debts

Monday March 26,2012

AN independent Scotland would have to shoulder £100billion of debts but could still find itself with lower repayments than the UK, a new study claims.
The public sector debt, pension costs and IOU’s apportioned to Scotland would far outweigh any assets it would be entitled to take from the UK.

express.co.uk/…/…
 
 
# Islegard 2012-03-26 01:19
Even if that was true. This year the UK are in deficit from between £100-£160 billion. For this year alone adding to £5.5 trillion debt.

If Scotland was independent we would be out from under this type of year on year adding to the debt and we have all the assets.

£100 billion is nothing to what England will be left with and loosing Scotlands resources.
 
 
# Dances With Haggis 1320 2012-03-26 12:08
Average UK Debt maturity is fourteen years. time enough to get debt free and we would not be attached to the ever increasing UK debt…we are already paying UK debt so whats the difference.
 
 
# Dances With Haggis 1320 2012-03-26 13:16
My reply to the Express articlepublishe  d in its comments section

SCOTLAND WOULD PROSPER WHILE RUK/ENGLAND WOULD STRUGGLE WITH MASSIVE DEBT

26.03.12, 2:02pm

Average UK Debt maturity is fourteen years. time enough to get debt free and we would not be attached to the ever increasing UK debt…we are already paying UK debt so whats the difference.

Plus we get our share of UK assets, also when the Banks are back in profit and paying off their loan to the tax payer [it was not a gift] we get our share of the profits or share of the sale of the banks providing the tories dont sell them for a song to Branson and still leave the debt and unprofitable parts with the taxpayer like they did with Northern Rock.

Compared to RUK/Englands 92% of the debt and bearing in mind that RUK/England will be losing 90% of Oil. 70% Gas, Scottish Crown estatesand all other revenues both [open and hidden]p and plus RUK gets a bill for billions in clean up costs for Faslane, Cape Wrath, Dundrenenen military bases and firing ranges,and a £100 billion pound bill if they want to keep and relocate trident and thats before the £100 billion cost to upgrade Trident.

I think it will be RUK/England that goes down the debt swaney river and Scotland will do just fine debt free in five years.

No wonder the British Nationalist Unionists are fighting hard to keep Scotland and its revenues
 
 
# scottish_skier 2012-03-26 13:42
In the same paper…

It seems the good old British Jubilee isn’t attracting much interest up here.

express.co.uk/…/…

SCOTS WON’T TURN OUT FOR JUBILEE STREET PARTIES

A quick calc suggests there are ~11x more parties planned per head of population in England & Wales (3500 apps) than there are in Scotland (30 apps).
 
 
# ButeHouse 2012-03-26 01:20
100Billion of debt is very manageable, especially when we consider the value of the British assets Scotland is due.

Every country in the world has debt and as long as it’s interest can be repaid each year with lumps of the capital sum being paid off from time to time to reduce the debt, everyone will be happy.

That is not what’s happening in Britain just now, the UK’s debt is getting worse. Blame that as much on the wars we are and have been engaged in as well as the UK Government cheering the Banks on when they were raking in Billions in foreign currency……before the bubble burst.

VOTE YES
 
 
# deepthroat 2012-03-26 01:27
Camerongate

Direct quote from David Cameron’s speech at Scottish Tory Conference 3 days ago

“We said we’d look after those that look after us…”

Says it all
 
 
# clootie 2012-03-26 06:55
😀
 
 
# Louperdowg 2012-03-26 02:58
From the Herald:

Former Holyrood Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson argued that if the SNP are to be defeated decisively then the Tories had to suggest what plan for devolution they were suggesting instead.

He said: “I want independence off the agenda for a century or more, not just for a generation.

“If that is to be achieved I believe that the UK Government should state categorically that in the event of a No vote in the referendum it will – not it might or it could – but it will establish a commission to look at the future constitutional structure that will deliver a long-term, stable and sustainable relationship between the governments and parliaments of our country.”


Its the way you tell ’em, Alex.
 
 
# Harry.Shanks 2012-03-26 08:34
Sounds a bit like Thatcher’s “We will take stock” when she came to power after the 1979 referendum.

We all know how far that went.
 
 
# rhymer 2012-03-26 13:55
Quoting Harry.Shanks:
Sounds a bit like Thatcher’s “We will take stock” when she came to power after the 1979 referendum.
We all know how far that went.


I think she was taking about a soup recipe.
 
 
# Thee Forsaken One 2012-03-26 13:58
Quoting rhymer:
Quoting Harry.Shanks:
Sounds a bit like Thatcher’s “We will take stock” when she came to power after the 1979 referendum.
We all know how far that went.


I think she was taking about a soup recipe.


I figured she meant the stock market, and oil stocks, of course.
 
 
# nchanter 2012-03-26 16:26
Quoting rhymer:
Quoting Harry.Shanks:
Sounds a bit like Thatcher’s “We will take stock” when she came to power after the 1979 referendum.
We all know how far that went.


I think she was taking about a soup recipe.

Chicken (run) soup?
 
 
# edinburgh quine 2012-03-26 03:44
Slightly o/t but Alex Salmond gets a positive mention as does Camerob’s speech at the tory meeting at a phone box in Troon


guardian.co.uk/…/…
 
 
# mealer 2012-03-26 05:57
Westminster.Rotten to the core.
 
 
# Angus 2012-03-26 07:08
Aye, ofcourse Cameron knows nothing about this!!
This is rotten, any ‘Scottish’ Tory who says it isnt is just as rotten.
Westminster and the union are rotten.
 
 
# admiral 2012-03-26 08:06
O/T but the Torygraph (and the unelected Lord Forsooth, sorry Forsyth) are at it again:

telegraph.co.uk/…/…

Forgive me, but I don’t recall Alex Salmond or the SNP suddenly deciding for no reason to charge English students £9,000 fees. Wasn’t it the Westminster Parliament that did that? Didn’t the Westminster parliament reduce Scotland’s pocket money in the expectation that would force the Scottish government to charge Scottish students the same fees as the English? Why does the Scottish Government now have to accept fee refugees from England that it has no funding to pay for and whose own goverment doesn’t give two hoots for?
 
 
# Roll_On_2011 2012-03-26 08:31
Tories lurching from ‘one City spiv to the next in their search for a Treasurer’

dailymail.co.uk/…/…

With the resignation of his party treasurer, David Cameron is facing his second major crisis over Tory donors since becoming Prime Minister.

‘The Conservatives have lurched from one City spiv to the next in their search for a Treasurer,’ said Lib Dem peer and millionaire businessman Lord Oakeshott. ‘The last one had to resign before he had even taken the job.’

Indeed, among senior members of Cameron’s own party there was barely controlled anger yesterday over the fact that he had failed to learn from the disastrous appointment of Peter Cruddas’s predecessor, David ‘Spotty’ Rowland, who was also forced to resign in disgrace.



But lest we forget the Nasty Tory Parties biggest backers are from the City of London whose donations make up more than 50% of income to the Bullingdon boy’s party.

guardian.co.uk/…/…

Bullingdon Club:

iconicphotos.wordpress.com/…/…
 
 
# amfraeembro 2012-03-26 09:03
“The party has promised to hold an investigation into the affair.”

Where’s the polis?
 
 
# hiorta 2012-03-26 10:31
Should we contribute to a prize for the first Unionist to make a positive case for Scotland’s future under their systems of sleaze, patronage, two-faced dealings, lies and innuendo?
 
 
# Caadfael 2012-03-26 10:43
“The party has promised to hold an investigation into Whitewash the affair.”
Yeah right, spin your way out of that one Dave!
 
 
# Jiggsbro 2012-03-26 10:53
It’s tricky, isn’t it? If someone is giving you a large donation, you’ll want them to continue donating in the future. So you don’t promise them something you can’t deliver.If the Tories now say that they routinely promise things they can’t deliver, no one will be particularly surprised but it might make people think twice about donating.
 
 
# scottish_skier 2012-03-26 11:08
What are the bets Ruth will not ask AS when he next plans to meet the PM at FMQ’s this week?

I would imagine even she could predict the answer, i.e. AS disnae hae £250 k tae spare.
 
 
# proudscot 2012-03-26 13:39
Quoting scottish_skier: 
What are the bets Ruth will not ask AS when he next plans to meet the PM at FMQ’s this week?

I would imagine even she could predict the answer, i.e. AS disnae hae £250 k tae spare.


Brilliant!
 
 
# daveniz 2012-03-26 11:17
The bbc are at it again Angus MacNeil, MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (SNP) exposes the Tories donor scandal and the bbc are portraying it like the labour party exposed it!
 
 
# daveniz 2012-03-26 11:54
Quoting admiral:
O/T but the Torygraph (and the unelected Lord Forsooth, sorry Forsyth) are at it again:

telegraph.co.uk/…/…

Forgive me, but I don’t recall Alex Salmond or the SNP suddenly deciding for no reason to charge English students £9,000 fees. Wasn’t it the Westminster Parliament that did that? Didn’t the Westminster parliament reduce Scotland’s pocket money in the expectation that would force the Scottish government to charge Scottish students the same fees as the English? Why does the Scottish Government now have to accept fee refugees from England that it has no funding to pay for and whose own goverment doesn’t give two hoots for?



don’t forget this Scottish students going to England have to pay tuition fees so why should English students get it for free? double standards here if Scottish students going to England get it free then they would have an argument but it doesn’t! I’m sympathetic to English students wanting to study and not pay fees but there anger should be directed to westminister who introduced it! also we can’t let a influx of English students come here if tuition was free at the expense of students in Scotland and on the Scottish governments education budget especially when we won’t get any money from westminister to compensate for it! this is another reason for independance!
 
 
# call me dave 2012-03-26 13:08
O/T

Glasgow subway and Borders railway.
Another wee step in the right direction.

——————————————
Borders to Edinburgh rail reopening ‘one step closer’

It is hoped the rail route between Edinburgh and the Borders can reopen by late in 2014

A £2m contract has been awarded to further develop designs for the reopening of the rail route between the Scottish Borders and Edinburgh.

Network Rail said the deal with BAM Nuttall brought the multi-million pound project “one step closer”.

It is hoped the scheme will be completed with trains running between the capital and Tweedbank by late 2014.

bbc.co.uk/…/…
 
 
# Dundonian West 2012-03-26 13:15
Borders have been ignored by so many parties over the years.
Taken for granted by UK.
Hope this is all changing—Scottish Government,with it’s limited resources.
 
 
# proudscot 2012-03-26 13:52
Quoting Dundonian West:
Borders have been ignored by so many parties over the years.
Taken for granted by UK.
Hope this is all changing—Scottish Government,with it’s limited resources.

Surely it can’t be said the current Tory Government is still ignoring the Borders, after all they have their very own “limited resource” in place there, in the person of their sole MP David Mundell.
 
 
# scottish_skier 2012-03-26 13:17
They’re already busy with prep work in Galashiels.
 
 
# rhymer 2012-03-26 14:18
Tories doing the “cash for influence” bit,
Labour doing the “cash for honours” bit.

Ah yes a real trustworthy lot down there in Westminster.
 
 
# call me dave 2012-03-26 14:51
Money makes the world go round!
—————————————–
David Cameron publishes list of all donors dining at No 10

David Cameron said funding reform was needed

Call for ‘proper’ Cruddas inquiry
David Cameron has given details of all Conservative donors who have had dinner with him in his Downing Street flat.

bbc.co.uk/…/…
————————————–

LARGEST DONATIONS TO CONSERVATIVES IN 2010
£1,999,967 – David Rowland
£553,000 – Michael Farmer
£500,000 – Jonathan Wood
£335,000 – Michael Bishop
£300,000 – May Makhzoumi
£250,000 – Paul Beecroft
£250,000 – Mark Bamford
£250,000 – Chris Rokos
£250,000 – Lord Sainsbury
Source: Electoral Commission



LARGEST DONATIONS TO CONSERVATIVES IN 2011
£382,451 – Peter Cruddas
£150,000 – Mark Bamford
£150,000 – Jean Parmer
£111,000 – Mary Cross
£109,200 – Edwin Healey
£100,000 – Nicholas Jenkins
£100,000 – Alexander Knaster
Source: Electoral Commission
 
 
# Barontorc 2012-03-26 15:42
So Cruddas – seemingly can’t even be relied upon on how much he donated. Figures circulated were of the 1 million plus variety – now we see his was only a paltry sub-400k!
 
 
# J Wil 2012-03-26 15:42
I haven’t heard much being made of Angus’s allegations in the media (actually nothing), but it wouldn’t be surprising to witness silent collusion if they are anti-independence.
 
 
# mato21 2012-03-26 16:34
A.Salmonds letter to Dave

See Moridura
 
 
# Wee-Scamp 2012-03-26 16:48
BBC says that the UK Govt is in negotiations to sell 1/3rd of RBS to Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund.

So RBS must be a UK owned bank after all.
 
 
# daveniz 2012-03-26 17:24
Quoting Dundonian West:
Borders have been ignored by so many parties over the years.
Taken for granted by UK.
Hope this is all changing—Scottish Government,with it’s limited resources.


the Scottish government has given a contract to build an Edinburgh to borders railway line but in typical bbc fashion no mention of the SNP!

bbc.co.uk/…/…

p.s with anything including the banks from westminister its British when successful and Scottish when its not or on the flip English when successful and British when it is not!
 
 
# Teri 2012-03-26 18:50
I wonder how much it costs to meet with the Scottish Tory Leader Ruth Davidson?
 
 
# call me dave 2012-03-26 19:49
Quoting Teri:
I wonder how much it costs to meet with the Scottish Tory Leader Ruth Davidson?


In a case like this it’s about £100:

but you don’t get the £100 unless you have your photo taken with her in front of the union flag.
 
 
# raisethegame 2012-03-26 19:31
STV
“Salmond demands answers from Cameron on ‘mad Scotsman’ jibe claims”

The First Minister also wants reassurances from Downing Street on the funding of independence referendum campaigns.

“…in his letter he wrote: “Yesterday’s Sunday Times’ report regarding Peter Cruddas is a matter of substantial public concern. One important aspect is that Mr Cruddas is reported to have discussed the issue of Scottish independence with you, in somewhat pejorative terms.
“I would like to know directly from you the details of this discussion. The paper reports that Mr Cruddas personally was a major donor to the No to AV campaign, reportedly funding the campaign to the tune of £1.2 million….”

news.stv.tv/…/…
 
 
# Talorcan 2012-03-26 19:45
Speaking of unionist scare stories, did it ever occur to anyone in the SNP to point out to the Scottish People that if they don’t vote yes in the referendum there will, in every liklihood, be a law passed in Westminster immediately after the referendum making it illegal to hold any more referenda on independence? This kind of legislation has been passed in Spain and Canada, so no prospect of the Basques, Catalonia or French Quebec ever gaining their freedom. We, like them, will be stuffed forever, and it will be our own fault if we don’t point this out to our fellow countrymen and women. This will be a one off show, and Mr. Salmond’s optimistic scenario of another referendum taking place in the next generation just won’t happen…it will be illegal.
 
 
# Ben Power 2012-03-26 21:21
A law to stop future referendums on Independence would be typical retribution from Westminster.
That will be minor though compared to the revenge that Westminster will inflict on every Scots resident because Independence was even attempted.

The real outcome of a No vote on independence will be intense pain and suffering for Scots, not some cosy little tea party fantasy world of British empire glory.
 
 
# J Wil 2012-03-26 21:46
I wonder if UDI would be an option for the Basques and others?
 
 
# hiorta 2012-03-26 21:03
That is the real danger to the Scottish democratic future and for all succeeding Scottish generations.
This fair land will become a dumping ground for everything Westminster no longer wants – after trying it on first.

If we think of Auld Scotland and the generations of our young blood shed for foreign military adventures across the globe.
There is no alternative now – Scotland needs to vote YES in the coming referendum, for so many great reasons, but to ensure we cease being a foreigners toy. We are far more than that.
 
 
# Barontorc 2012-03-26 23:46
It’s coming – there is a substantial groundswell which is adding numbers by the day.
 

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