Comments on Guy Fawkes' blog of parliamentary plots, rumours and conspiracy: Surge of Net-Roots Support for a Private Prosecuti...

I don't usually comment on anything but I consider...

2007-07-24T11:42:00.000+01:00

I don't usually comment on anything but I consider this matter important. How many of the upright citizens who are railing against sleaze, are Freemasons?

Having said that, the best of luck with the action against these bastards, as long as it's being done for the right reasons.

Levy is guilty as sin This just goes to show that...

2007-07-23T16:44:00.000+01:00

Levy is guilty as sin This just goes to show that he has several friends in high places who put pressure on the CPS. The case with Noon is clear and there is other evidence out there as well, I just saw a website where the author directly states Levy offered a peerage in exhange for a loan.

I was stunned when I heard the decision and would support a private prosecution.

Guido - just to point out that to fulfil the condi...

2007-07-23T15:05:00.000+01:00

Guido - just to point out that to fulfil the condition of the pledge there'll need to be 101 sponsors, not 100, as the pledge reads 'only if 100 OTHER people' [pledge support etc].

I expect there are far more than 100 by now anyway - how many are there, by the way?

I see, our old friend "Gestapo tactics". I must ha...

2007-07-23T12:40:00.000+01:00

I see, our old friend "Gestapo tactics". I must have missed the bit where Lord Levy was kept naked in a freezing cell for weeks, beaten daily, had his finger nails pulled out and was then hanged with piano wire. Gestapo tactics my arse. And now he's talking about suing the police? As if. The slimeball knows he's had a lucky escape, the last thing he'll want is to see the inside of a court room if he's got any sense.

Id also like to follow up what one poster said and...

2007-07-23T11:44:00.000+01:00

Id also like to follow up what one poster said and ask why the Labour party hasnt been charged with false accounting: the party treasurer ha sstated he was completely in the dark about the loans. Surely this is an open and shut case and would really kipper the Labour Party if they were found guilty?

Like everyone else,I'd like to know the liability ...

2007-07-23T10:27:00.000+01:00

Like everyone else,I'd like to know the liability for costs if the decision went the wrong way.

According the The Times, the 'independent' QC brou...

2007-07-22T23:21:00.000+01:00

According the The Times, the 'independent' QC brought in to quash, sorry, decide this investigation has ruled that there must be 'unambiguous' evidence.

The law is like politics: 99% of them give the decent ones a bad name.

Helm, a journalist and author, writes in today's Observer: 'I know one shouldn't make these comparisons, but I was writing about Nazi Germany right then and I couldn't help think: Gestapo tactics! Pick on the vulnerable, preferably a single woman, living alone. No matter that you may have nothing on her that will ultimately stand up in court - give her a scare.'

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,2132043,00.html

Disgraceful! No single woman living alone should ever be raided by the police for anything unless they've already got cast-iron proof of all her wrongdoing. In which case, they won't need to raid her.

These remarks echoed a series of angry private comments yesterday from Blair's closest political allies. One, accusing the police of heavy-handed tactics and damaging media leaks, described Yates as 'a shit'.

'Everyone who has been at all affected by this investigation will have thought long and hard about what to do now - and be very tempted to take the argument to Yates,' he said. 'But no matter how much anger there is, there is also a desire to put the entire terrible episode behind us.'

I bet a few military families wish they could say the same of their traumas. These people really do believe they're above the law and that rules are for the rest of us.

Leave them be if you can't get Blair. And leave Bl...

2007-07-22T23:15:00.000+01:00

Leave them be if you can't get Blair.

And leave Blair because he's kicked the union's to the side and thereby done us a service. Labour were always going to come back if the Liberals never overtook them, so best at least not to have union dominance.

Only selling honours enabled Labour to avoid this. Hopefully the investigation scared people into avoiding this in future, but so long as the Tories win next election, we'll complete 30+ union-free years, well worth some minor corruption.

Perhaps it might be best to wait until the Commons...

2007-07-22T21:57:00.000+01:00

Perhaps it might be best to wait until the Commons Public Administration Committee sits and delivers its judgement on the whole affair before starting civil prosecution proceedings. Rumour has it that Blair himself is to be summoned before said committee to account for his behaviour, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

What's the possible liability if we lose and get c...

2007-07-22T21:44:00.000+01:00

What's the possible liability if we lose and get costs awarded against us?

The current administration wants to reduce the sta...

2007-07-22T21:30:00.000+01:00

The current administration wants to reduce the standard of proof required by General Medical Council disciplinary hearings from the criminal law standard to the civil law standard i.e. to be able to strike doctors off the register on a balance of probability rather than beyond all reasonable doubt.

How poetic if they were to get a taste of their own medicine.

Scary biscuits - yes agreed. Unfortunately in crim...

2007-07-22T18:54:00.000+01:00

Scary biscuits - yes agreed. Unfortunately in criminal law you need to be beyond reasonable doubt - until civil law the burden is to prove on the balance of balance probablity.

My legal strategy would be to be as 'civil' and as light fingered as possible in the challenge. The goal would not be to try hard to send them to jail for the longest possible term but to try the lest to taint them as with the lightest of accusations. The weight of their office will drag them down not the weight of the crime.

I totally agree with all those who remind us that ...

2007-07-22T16:27:00.000+01:00

I totally agree with all those who remind us that we are all "innocent until proven guilty". Anything else would be wrong. Having heard the evidence (and this is just the evidence that has been made public), how on earth can you conclude anything other than "guilty as charged". Its been proven, get on with it plod, lock them up.

am saddened but not surprised at the nastiness and...

2007-07-22T16:25:00.000+01:00

am saddened but not surprised at the nastiness and jealousies expressed by so many of the posters

How DARE they arrest him? Don't they know who he i...

2007-07-22T16:22:00.000+01:00

How DARE they arrest him? Don't they know who he is? About his charity vork for the most deservink causes going?

Lord Levy, the central figure in the saga, and Mr Blair's personal fundraiser, is understood to be furious over his treatment, and is considering whether to sue Scotland Yard for wrongful arrest. Friends of Lord Levy are also urging him to complain to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2790959.ece

His Grace is pleased that you do have got lots of ...

2007-07-22T14:06:00.000+01:00

His Grace is pleased that you do have got lots of money.

His Grace has very little, but what little he has is dedicated to the pursuit of truth and justice.

And he can write English.

You are all mad and demented and clearly have more...

2007-07-22T13:58:00.000+01:00

You are all mad and demented and clearly have more money than sense.

Probably true....but then again I do have got lots of money

AnonymousYou are all mad and demented and clearly ...

2007-07-22T12:50:00.000+01:00

Anonymous
You are all mad and demented and clearly have more money than sense.

My contribution will be coming out of state benefits, as befits the need.

Javelin, I too am amazed by the timesonline story....

2007-07-22T12:44:00.000+01:00

Javelin, I too am amazed by the timesonline story. It appears that Labour has got off not because there is no evidence but because it is apparently inadmissable, despite being dynamite.

According the The Times, the 'independent' QC brought in to quash, sorry, decide this investigation has ruled that there must be 'unambiguous' evidence. Presumably nothing less than a legally binding contract between Sir Christopher and Ld Levy, prepared by their solicitors, would do. And then they wonder why people are losing faith in the Criminal Law...

Come on........how can it not be in the public int...

2007-07-22T12:24:00.000+01:00

Come on........how can it not be in the public interest, for the public to prosecute sleazy politicians?

Story in the Times ...http://www.timesonline.co.uk...

2007-07-22T12:18:00.000+01:00

Story in the Times ...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2116324.ece

It will be useful to everybody to publish the Evans diary - which contains all the "dynamite" evidence and the Government barrister ruled was not admissible.

The Peerage-police investigation has embarassed th...

2007-07-22T12:11:00.000+01:00

The Peerage-police investigation has embarassed the Government. The Peerage-private-prosecution will embarass the State.

If you win I would ask for future revenues from diaries as payment. It will be interesting to see people put their diaries into their partners names to try to protect future income.

Perhaps Mr Noon would care to support this cause? ...

2007-07-22T11:58:00.000+01:00

Perhaps Mr Noon would care to support this cause? He has been horribly embarassed.

Anon, I would like my own Counsel to decide whethe...

2007-07-22T11:56:00.000+01:00

Anon, I would like my own Counsel to decide whether or not there is a case to answer. I know I can't rely on the state to try the state.

11:13 AM, I can't help but be reminded of Judge Pi...

2007-07-22T11:48:00.000+01:00

11:13 AM, I can't help but be reminded of Judge Pickles who remarked that the one thing that really got to him was the large number of guilty men found innocent in cases he presided over.

If you can actually be arsed to read the news coverage, the amount of evidence handed in seems far too much to justify the CPS decision.

Or to put it another way, I bet you were really impressed by Hutton too...