Sainsburys "Forgets" £2 Million Loan

You know how it is, you give your money over and the Sainsbury's girl on the till "forgets" to give you your change. Lord Sainsbury "lent" an extra £2 million quid to Labour that he forgot to mention to anyone. Is he planning to buy the Labour party outright? How many millions has he "lent"? Can they afford to ever sack him and risk him calling in the loans?

Hardline Tories will want to switch to Waitrose (backs Co-operative Party) or Tesco (backs LibDems), buy organic from your local Tory huntin' 'n shootin' farmer and boycott the GM loving, Blair backing, Lord Sainsbury.

Michael Crick Couldn't Investigate a Paper Bag

Newsnight earlier in the week had Crick doorstepping Cameron. Iain Dale won't mind me mentioning that Crick even called him for info.

Crick in his report ruled out Johan Eliasch giving the Tories money - he actually gave £2.6 million. (Guido had guestimated he gave a £1 million.) Guido had also guestimated Michael Spencer had given a £1 million in cash and kind, Crick ruled Spence out as well. The Times quoted Spencer later in the week saying it was not quite a million. Crick's glory days are clearly behind him.

The full list is here.

Tory Loans Announcement Due 2.30pm 3.30pm

Will there turn out to be any bogeymen financing the Tories?

UPDATE : Cameron says he will meet Blair on Monday.

UPDATE : 3.30pm now.

Support the General Strike!

Following the strike by local government workers on Tuesday, the agitators at the TaxPayers' Alliance are calling on supporters and fellow taxpayers across the country to join a retaliatory one-day Council Tax strike on Saturday (tomorrow).

Guido will definitely be supporting this General Strike.

The TaxPayers' Alliance has emailed its 10,000 supporters, urging them to withhold 1/365th of their council tax for the loss of local services on Tuesday. The Taxpayers’ General Strike involves strikers writing to their local councils advising them that they will be withholding 1/365th of their annual bill when they make their payment next month.

Strike leader Matthew Elliott says: "Council taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for the local services they missed on Tuesday due to the strike action, so we urge taxpayers from across the UK to support the first ever Taxpayers’ General Strike. The principle is simple: no services, no council tax. Join the strike this Saturday."

What Does the Strange Case of Ashok Kumar Tell Us?

When an MP on the government payroll, even in a position as lowly as Hilary Benn's PPS, attacks the PM, he is fired. No question about it he has to go.

What does it say about the fragile state of the Blairite's grip on control of the party that Ashok Kumar can hold on to his job after telling the PM to go, and go soon?

Guido thinks that those Blair Switch Project odds are looking attractive on Betfair again.

Newsnight's Crick is Still After Cameron

Even after last week's aggressive doorstepping of Cameron, Michael Crick is still chasing after him about cash for Conservatives. Scotland Yard is publicly confirming that the investigation will, if necessary, be multi-party, after telling the Standard yesterday it was Labour only.

Guido hears that Cameron is genuinely keen to get the names out and move on. Just like Tony Blair...

Will Galloway Get the Fake Sheik Nicked?

George Galloway has turned the tables on the News of the Screws' investigative reporter Mazher Mahmood, otherwise known as the "fake sheikh".

Mazher attempted to entrap Gorgeous in "a blatant and outrageous attempt to suborn a member of parliament," said Mr Galloway. Now, because they offered him money, they could be done for attempting to corrupt a member of parliament. How ironic.

Genuine or Scam?

Guido has just received this email:

Dear Sir;

I am Abacha Blair, nephew of the Head of State and Commander In Chief of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom.

We have come into £14,000,000 (Fourteen Million Pounds) which has been lent to us by noble supporters of the regime, which we must transfer to an account in your country before it is found by agents of the security services (The Electoral Commission, Parliamentary Standards Committee and Scotland Yard).

These moneys must only be used for the doing of good works which is why we have contacted you as an upstanding member of the community. As a trusted individual, please send us your bank account details and we will TRANSFER IMMEDIATELY the sum of £14 Million UK Dollars into your account. It is very important that you only spend these moneys on community benefit projects although as a consideration we will pay you a HANDLING FEE of 20% (TWENTY PER CENT) and nominate you for a PEERAGE in the HOUSE OF LORDS in the British Parliament.

Please send your BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS today as it is urgent that you help us in the doing of these good works.

Thank you many times for your kind assistance which God will thank you for

Yours sincerely


Abacha Blair

What is Chairman Maude Up To?

He has, a Guido co-conspirator says, cancelled all appointments this afternoon. Knocking off early for the weekend? Something more urgent perhaps?

Ain't the boys and girls at CCHQ overjoyed with their new job contracts? (They almost all had to re-apply for their jobs.)

The Abramoff Precedent Must Be Worrying Sleazy Levy

Jack Abramoff, the Republican lobbyist at the centre of a Washington corruption scandal, was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison yesterday.

Just goes to show that no matter how close to the powerful you are, no matter how well connected you are, the criminal justice system can't be spun as easily as newspaper headlines.

How long before we see Levy do the "perp walk"?

Cameron Decides to Come Clean

The Tories have begrudgingly decided to ask their donors to come out of the shadows. It was completely ridiculous and unsustainable for it to be any other way. Why the procastination, what was Cameron's problem?

It was all before his time and he can credibly distance himself from the old ways. It was also bad politics because it allowed others to suggest that the bogeymen were funding the Tories, it was bad in principle because sunshine is always the best antidote to corruption in the shadows. Voters rightly don't like the idea of voting for politicians funded by anonymous mystery men. Of course if it turns out the Tories were funded by Saddam Hussein or Chinese drug barons...

EPP Escape Committee Update

Guido's co-conspirator in Brussels emails to remind that the Gravy Train for faction funding by the European Parliament has arrived today. March 31st is the deadline for applications for faction funding and it looks like the Gravy Train will be leaving without the new faction on board.

In Westminster the word is that the Tories are waiting for Czech President Vaclav Klaus' ODS party to win the Czech general election in June. Hague wants to be able to point to the alliance with a governing party to counter any New Labour spin onslaught that the Tories are aligned with a bunch of oddballs who quaintly believe in national sovereignty, free markets and free trade.

The patience of the Tory right is fraying as they were promised a speedy exit. Like the war, they now hope the federalist nightmare will be over by Christmas.

Cameron knows that he has to deliver on this and he intends to deliver on it even if it costs the defection of a few MEPs.

Hoon Fiddles Expenses "In Accordance With The Rules"

On Sky on Sunday Geoff Hoon was droning on in that New Labour speak of his when he was challenged about claiming £72,000 in expenses while the outgoings on his Derbyshire home were around £35,000. He became very animated and basically told the interviewer to sod off and mind his own business. So it is clearly true.

Today he claims Britain has the most "aggressive, dismissive and intrusive" media. Not intrusive enough methinks. If the media were only more aggressive perhaps we would not have a system whereby a member of the government openly and insouciantly fiddles his expenses without being called a crook in the press.

What Has Recess Monkey Got Against Asian Tories?

The red rosette wearing political blogger Recess Monkey seems to view any non-white Tory as a class/race traitor. Now that might be factually correct in the case of the ex-Labour party candidate and "working class hero" Ray Chishti, but when has Richard/Mohamed Iltaf Sheikh ever been a Labour supporter? What has he ever done wrong?

Is it coz he is brown?

Silence of the Cameron - Are They All The Same?

According to the pollsters 56% of people think that Blair has given peerages in exchange for loans and donations and 54% thought Downing Street acted improperly in relation to the way Jack Dromey was not informed of them. 53% of people think Tony Blair is sleazy.

Labour are now trying to desperately shift the focus on to the Tories with a "we're all at it" spin. Which, as Guido has said before, is not a defence, it is an admission of guilt. Guido's sources tell him that Tory donors have in fact been approached to untick the no publicity box, and some may well do so. Cameron after all can obviously park the blame on the old Tory regime and still be Mr Clean. Perhaps that is why Labour has planted a frankly ridiculous story in the Indy about cash-for-policies accusing Cameron of appointing donors to his policy commissions. Of the four people named two are Tory MPs, and another is a fundraiser for the Tories, so it would be odd if they had not given money. It is not exactly on the scale of Lord Drayson is it?

Cameron needs to cough up some names sharpish or the voters will rightly conclude "they are all at it." In any event Guido understands that the Scotland Yard sleaze busters have now written to the Tory treasurer Jonathan Marland and a peerage-nominated Tory donor, so it may be out of his hands.

AOL's Connie, Jodie Marsh and Phil Willis MP

A strange threesome? What is the link you ask?

Well the MP Phil Willis for some reason wants to ban chav sex object Jodie Marsh from visiting schools. Which seems a little illiberal, in fact it seems downright arrogant and unpleasant. The inner geek in Guido has himself always fancied AOL's Connie more, but why the gratuitous picture of the lovely geek sex object? She is his daughter Rachel and not many people know that.

Will Hague Ask Prescott About His Foreign Backers?

Last week Prescott sent out this press release -

John Prescott MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, today called on David Cameron to publish details of all Conservative Party loans.

John Prescott MP said: "Following Labour's decision in the interests of transparency to publish the full list of names and amounts of all the loans received, we call on David Cameron to match his words on openness with actions by publishing details of all the Tories' loans."

Well perhaps Prescott should first tell us who financed the John Prescott Campaign Research Trust in the 1990s?

According to David Osler, Harry Sophoclides, a Greek-Cypriot millionaire was one backer of the secret trust. Guido, and perhaps William Hague, want to know who else made anonymous donations to the trust? Did they too receive honours when Prescott became Deputy PM? (Besides the parliamentary pass accreditation he organised for Mr Sophoclides' lobbyist son.)

PMQs Tomorrow - Hague vs Prescott

Not really a fair contest is it?

Are there Six Dozen Good and True Labour MPs?

While the cat was away in Oz the mice did play last night at a meeting of the PLP. Jon Trickett, the MP for Hemsworth, urged that the NEC and the elected Parliamentary Committee to reflect on "the timing and process for the election of a new leader". "The party has to come first" the meeting was told as Gordon Brown listened.

It has been widely reported that the Campaign Group is contemplating putting up a candidate. John Austin is also willing to stand as a stalking horse candidate, as is Glenda Jackson. But will they find 70 more MPs to back them? It all has to be done in time for party conference.So who are the likely signatories to any nomination papers? 52 dissidents rebelled on the education vote and 25 did not vote - those 77 can be assumed to be likely to want rid of Blair, add in the Brown backers on the government payroll and you have more than enough. The payroll Brownites are: Des Browne, Alistair Darling, Yvette Cooper, Nigel Griffiths, Harriet Harman, John Healey, Dawn Primarolo, Stephen Timms, Tom Watson. On the backbenches: Ian Austin, Ed Balls, Nick Brown, Tom Clarke, Frank Dobson, Doug Henderson, John McFall, Ed Milliband, Geoffrey Robinson, Clare Short, Andrew Smith, Michael Wills. But do they have the guts?

With nearly a hundred MPs for a stalking horse to appeal to, Guido has a fair few quid on Betfair's Blair Switch bet backing the change happening July/September. In this scenario the Brownites get a smooth transition by convincing Blair they have the required numbers. At the last moment before this year's party conference (to prevent any other candidates coming forward) Brown's name is put forward with Blair as his first nominator. Brown becomes leader of the Labour party at the conference, Blair remains as PM to serve out his term as promised, vanity satisfied by out-distancing Thatcher. Brown gets on with the Labour party campaign against Cameron, Blair leads the country in a presidential style. This is the "Aznar solution".

Correcting Michael Spencer

Guido has suggested previously that Michael Spencer has given the Conservative party £1m+. Tonight on Newsnight that was denied to Michael Crick. Technically he may be correct.

However Spencer's Intercapital Private Group Ltd has actually given £326,500 at the last count. Guido understands that Lynton Crosby's election campaign bill was also sent in the same direction - which was not unadjacent to £450,000. A few personal donations of around £80,000, a little help for Dave's leadership campaign (including Spence's Netjets card) and throw in the odd auction bid and, you know, it is nigh on near enough £1 million.

Guido would never expect Spence to be outgunned by his bitter moneybroking rival, the Labour backing Derek Tullet, who gave Labour a mere £400,000. So if Spence wants to get in touch and clarify the arithmetic, just email guido.fawkes@Order-Order.com.

Beckett Replies to Guido with Statement

Guido has received this official statement from Margaret Beckett in reply to his letter of this morning:

"The trust to which the letter refers was a blind trust set up while in Opposition in accordance with the then rules of the House of Commons and approved by the House authorities. It dried up and was closed down many years ago. The Secretary of State is not prepared to make any further comment on this matter"

Sent to Guido, via Ed Mitchell, SpAd to Rt Hon. Margaret Beckett MP.

Guido says that is simply not good enough, what is she hiding?

• Who were the donors?
• How much did they give?
  
• Were any donors foreign?
• Who were the trustees?
• Why the secrecy?
• Did Lord Levy set up or raise funds for the trust?
• How many donors to the secret Margaret Beckett Research and Administration Trust subsequently got honours?

Time for Ms Beckett to come clean, as she herself wrote to David Cameron "failure to do so would seriously compromise your party's credibility".

Miliband's Blog Costs Taxpayer £6,000

That is not including the hourly rate he is paid to waffle on about the brilliance of the government and himself. Remember it is not political. It is crap however.

Guido recommends the geeks at Aplus, who will do it for a lot less!

email Aplus Wireless Networks, Consultancy, Hardware & Software

UPDATE : John Forristal of blog specialists Aplus, took a look at the Miliblog and emailed Guido to say he would have quoted no more than a grand for the job.

Beckett's Hypocrisy :Who Were Secret Donors to Her Trust?

Margaret Beckett wrote on Friday to David Cameron urging him to explain the source of loans to the Tories under Michael Howard. She demanded he reveal the names of wealthy individuals and companies, the amounts they loaned - and whether any are foreign. Unless he followed Labour and the Liberal Democrats in giving full details of lenders, his party's credibility would be "seriously compromised", she wrote. In the letter Beckett claimed she was "concerned" at the refusal to publish a list of lenders or to confirm whether any of the party's cash came from foreign sources.

"I am sure you will recognise that failure to do so would seriously compromise your party's credibility and remove all legitimacy from any call you made to argue the case for openness and reform to the system... We understand that some of these loans may have been given on the basis of confidentiality. But it is clear that the public interest in outlining the full extent of loans received, as we have done, is sufficiently strong to justify any such undertakings you have given being overridden."

Guido can reveal that Ms Beckett operated a secret trust in the late 90s to finance her leadership ambitions (people forget she was, after John Smith's death, once leader of the Labour party). The secret "Margaret Beckett Research and Administration Trust" was the conduit for anonymous donations to support her leadership ambitions, it operated in the late 90s but was closed down by 1998 after Blair won the election. In 2000 such trusts became illegal.

Guido has today written to Ms Beckett;

click to enlarge

UPDATE : Guido has now received an official statement from Margaret Beckett in reply to this letter.

Levy Asked for Credit Knowing Refusal Often Offends

Seems to Guido that the wrong questions are being asked, Prescott in all likelihood did not know about the loans to the property developers. Lord Levy on the other hand mixes in the same social circles as Sir David Garrard and Andrew Rosenfeld, the property millionaires behind Minerva.

Sleazy Levy would know that they were risking millions on getting government approval, they would therefore be vulnerable to an approach from the Labour party's fundraiser - well, if you have a £600 million property development resting on government approval what is a £3 million "loan"? It represents less than 1/2% of the development cost.

Capita with billions in government contracts would also be vulnerable, we all know you "do not to ask for credit because refusal often offends". What businessman would want to offend their biggest customer, even if as Labour claims it was unlikely to make any real difference, would you as CEO want to risk offending the source of more than half your revenues? Rod Aldridge didn't approach Labour with an offer to help, they approached him - "The Labour Party came to me last year in need of financial support following the costs incurred at the last general election", he said.

Businessman are cynical about politicians, most would view such an approach as a shakedown, but what real choice would they have?

Sleaze Buster Cop Asks Select Committee to Halt Inquiry

Scotland Yard's John Yates, who is leading the Loans for Lordships investigation, has asked for the Public Affairs Select Committee hearings to be postponed. The sleaze busting cop wants the police investigation to have precedence and the hearings scheduled for next week stopped because they risk prejudicing the criminal investigation. Lord Levy had agreed to answer the committee's questions.

GMTV Tomorrow :Left-Wing MP Calls for Blair's Prosecution

Angus MacNeil, the left-wing Scottish Nationalist MP who brought in the police to investigate the Loans for Lordships scandal, has called for Tony Blair to be prosecuted claiming that "if anybody has been corrupt or committing any crimes we have to recognise them as such, we’re equal in the eyes of the law and that includes the Prime Minister and especially the Prime Minister."

Revealing Marland's Money Mystery

The Tory treasurer Jonathan Marland (pictured) swears that he will not betray the confidences of Tory lenders, a refusal that Labour are desperately trying to capitalise on as the rising tide of sleaze revelations spills over the front doorstep of No. 10.

Margaret Beckett has written to David Cameron to criticise the Tories for keeping secret the names of wealthy individuals and companies, the amounts they loaned - and whether any are foreign. Unless Marland followed Labour and the Liberal Democrats in giving full details, his party's credibility would be "seriously compromised", she said.

Let Guido help Ms Beckett by revealing where most of the money came from;

Henry Angest £2 million
Lord Ashcroft, £3.5 million
Robert Edmiston £1+ million
Johan Eliasch £1 million
Michael Hintze £2.5 million
Lord Laidlaw £2 million
Michael Spencer £1+ million

So that is most of the mystery solved. Guido is guessing here, but Marland might himself be good for a million or so - after all he has made a tidy fortune from insurance broking. The majority of the money is easily accounted for by these donors. Guido has spotted a few hedge fund types around at Tory gatherings and would not be at all surprised to discover they have loaned out some of their gains - the stockmarket is after all booming with the FTSE hitting 6000. Now back to Sleazy Levy's Loans for Lordships...

Philanthropist Michael Hintze is "Offshore" Tory Donor

The Times had a rather breathless story about an offshore loan to the Tories this morning. Iain Dale has rather spoilt all the press fun by revealing the donor to be Michael Hintze.

Michael Hintze, 53, is a former Goldman Sachs "quant jockey", he now trades derivatives through Belgravia-based CQS - sole shareholder Michael Hintze. CQS stands for Convertible & Quantitative Strategies LLP, which last year is rumoured to have made over $100m.

He told Iain "My support for the Conservative Party is something I am immensely proud of and I am pleased to be able to help, both with the declared donations I have made and through the loan from the UK based trading company, Morain UK, of which I am an ultimate beneficiary and which responded to the Party's need for support by agreeing to a secured loan on commercial terms last year I have supported the Conservative Party because I can and the law allows me to do so. I truly believe this country needs a strong opposition."

Guido will add another name to the list of known seven-figure donors, Michael Spencer, (pictured with Dave at the Black & White Ball). Guido believes Spencer was good for at least a million - for heavens sake he had Robbie Williams sing at his birthday party!

You read it on blogs first!

Sleaze Buster

Deputy Assistant Commissioner John Yates is heading the Loans for Lordships investigation. He led the corruption enquiry Operation Russia in the early 90s which saw six serving detectives go down for long sentences. He is, as all senior policeman are nowadays, politically sensitive and was the Met's representative in the de Menezes case, travelling to Brazil to meet the family. He has previous experience liaising with the F&CO, Cabinet Office and Home Office.

Guido has heard no suggestion that he is a man for a whitewash.

Tory TV : Cameron on the NHS

The campaign message in this week's video is "Brown's NHS cuts".

Cameron comes over as very personable, he could have had a career as a TV presenter - where did it all go wrong?

Not a mention of Loans for Lordships - an indication that the Tories feel a little exposed here?

Cameron should come clean - since it is all before his time and he won't suffer from it - Blair however is balls deep in with Levy.

+++ FLASH +++ Loans for Lordships Scotland Yard Assembles 8 Man Investigating Team

Is a £2,000,000 Loan to Labour Irrelevant?

"The House of Lords Appointments Commission, who carry out the scrutiny of candidates, is given information, where relevant, about political donations."

Tony Blair, Hansard, 17 November 2005.

Hounds to Report to Fox

Is Guido the only one not reassured by the appointment of Sir John Bourn yesterday as the first independent adviser to handle ministerial conflicts of interests? His new role will see him reporting directly to the prime minister, not parliament.

Trusts and Convictions

To secure a conviction the detectives will need to find hard evidence that honours were an inducement for donations to the city academies or to the making of loans to the Labour party. Not an incredibly difficult thing to do since we have the evidence of Des Smith, a former council member of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSA Trust), which helps the government to recruit sponsors for Blair's academies. He told an undercover Sunday Times reporter that big financial donations to help set up the schools would guarantee a gong. He put it plainly "the prime minister's office would recommend someone like [the donor] for an OBE, a CBE or a knighthood".

Asked if this would be just for getting involved in the academies, he responded: "Yes ... they call them services to education. I would say to [the SSA Trust] office that we've got to start writing to the prime minister's office... you could go to the House of Lords". It is a fact that donors to the Labour party who also supported Blair's flagship policy, through the SSA Trust, got honours. Blair got a double whammy, he got cash for the party as well as financial support for a controversial policy. By disguising the donation to the party as a loan the honour could be respectably awarded for "services to education" without anyone knowing about the bung to the party made through Downing Street. The SSA Trust provided camouflage. When exposed by the Sunday Times Des Smith recanted everything, "confessed" his naive errors, then disappeared back to teaching.

Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925. Section 1 (1)
If any person accepts, obtains or agrees to accept or obtain from any person, for himself or for any other person, or for any purpose, any gift, money or valuable consideration as an inducement or reward for procuring or assisting or endeavouring to procure the grant of a dignity or title of honour to any person or otherwise in connection with such a grant, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.

Des Smith's admission is prima facie evidence of what we all know. If you wanted a peerage, a seven-figure loan to the Labour party and the same again donated to a city academy obtained it. Levy induced it. He covertly procured the money for the Labour party. The public donations were the cover story. Take the case of Sir David Garrard, a city academy backer whose £2 million loan to the party was followed by the Prime Minister nominating him as a working peer. Was it really a coincidence? If it was nothing to be ashamed of, why did they tell donors not to openly donate the cash as they intended, but to lend it secretly? If it was honest, why did they mislead the Lord's Appointment Commission about the true nature of the financial relationship between Blair's nominees and the Labour Party?

Levy loves trusts, he did a lot of his music business through tax efficient offshore trusts. In 1995 he set up the Labour Leader's Office Fund "blind" trust to finance Blair's private office. Theoretically it was a blind trust, but we now know that it was not so blind that donors did not get peerages. Such unaccountable and unblind trusts were rightly banned in 2000 under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act. David Osler in Labour Party Plc: New Labour as a Party of Business estimates that before the law tightened things up £2.5 million was raised for Blair's office through the trust - outside the Labour party's structures. We know that at least two donors to the "blind" trust subsequently got peerages - Bob Gavron and Alex Bernstein. Other peers are suspected of having made donations to Blair's blind trust. A pattern for the future was set, Levy lands the donors to a trust, Blair makes coincidental recommendations, peerages arrive in the post.

A pattern of behaviour is not proof, nor will circumstantial evidence be enough. What the police investigators will need is documentary evidence, they will need, forinstance, to look at the papers provided to the Lord's Appointments Commission, do they contain falsehoods? Who assisted in that and in doing so attempted to procure the grant of an honour. Did those people have any dealings with donors? Downing Street advisers' appointments diaries should make interesting reading. Who did Des Smith mean when he referred to the "the prime minister's office"?

Guido understands that the Specialist Crime Directorate's* Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur is treading very carefully with the investigation. Officers led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner John Yates need to seize the diaries of key people quickly before they get "mislaid". If the diaries show that a donor met anyone involved in the process of procuring honours, than clearly both the donor and the procuror will have to be questioned. Merely writing letters to those concerned requesting to talk to them next month is not good enough - the police need to go in to Downing Street and get the evidence now.

*Formerly known as the "Fraud Squad".

The Darbyshires are "Hitting Back"

See for yourself. LibDems be afraid.

US Special Forces Rescue British Peace Activist

Bet Norman Kember is not so anti Uncle Sam's army now.

Levy to Give Evidence

The Sleaze Master General himself is to give evidence to the House of Commons Public Administration Committee. That is not enough for Guido, when will we see him do the "Perp Walk" like they do in America?

The Serious Crime Inspectorate's investigators should cuff him and bring him in for questioning immediately - New Labour is getting desperate - who knows who he might be asking for protection money right now? The police should round up a posse and head up to the North London Hacienda, don't let him get away. Maundy Gregory was whisked off to France by worried peers who gave him a pension for his silence.

Hell with this lot Levy could be taken for a "walk in the woods", for his own sake, take him into protective custody.