6. Letter to the Commissioner from
Mr Ben Wallace MP, 11 November 2008
Since my complaint concerning the Rt Hon Jack Straw
MP, Member for Blackburn, I would like to submit some further
information and background which has been uncovered in recent
days.
Following a Sunday Times investigation it has emerged
that the donation from Canatxx was of the amount of £3000.
It also was not a civic event with only Labour County, District
Councillors and Members of Parliament invited. No Conservative
MPs from Lancashire received invitations. Cheques for the event
were made out to Blackburn Constituency Labour Party and paid
into the Co-operative Bank account of the local Labour Party.
In addition the event was organised by the constituency
Labour Party and was discussed at a preceding General Management
meeting. It is also now established that Dennis Volter, Chief
Executive of Canatxx, attended the event and that Jack Straw received
a donation from Lord Taylor of Blackburn who was then, as now,
a paid adviser to Canatxx. When interviewed by the Sunday Times
Michael Poultney, Treasurer of Blackburn Labour party in 2004,
stated: "Technically anybody who bought more than eight tickets
counted as a donor to the Party." It is therefore clear that
the Labour Party Officers were under the impression that this
was a Labour Party event and that ticket holders would have a
similar view given who they had to make the cheques out to.
I would ask that you take these details into account
when investigating my allegations. The rebuttal from the Member
for Blackburn that the event was not political is clearly refuted
by the evidence above. It is also worrying that the statement
from Mr Straw which said that he had "no connection with
Canatxx before the dinner or since" is contradicted by his
association with Lord Taylor.
I hope this is assistance to you in your investigation.
11 November 2008
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