Cherie Scrapes the Barrel by Signing Hutton Report for Auction

[FBBulldog]

Yesterday I rather regretted sending the Little Red Book of New Labour Sleaze to print so quickly.

The Mail on Sunday had enough material to add at least another dozen pages to it. The story which most caught my eye was jaw-droppingly sleaze-tastic and makes you realise how far some of the leading New Labour people have been removed from reality.

It seems that Cherie Blair and Alastair Campbell signed a copy of the Hutton Report to be auctioned at a Labour fund raiser last week. Surely a moment's thought would have set alarm bells ringing in their minds?

Obviously not. And in another 'you couldn't make it up moment' the item was actually auctioned off by Chris 'underpants' Bryant for £400. Nice to see New Labour figures profiting from the death of Dr David Kelly.

But it wasn't the first time, apparently. In his auction patter Bryant said that it wasn't the first time the Hutton Report had been sold to aid party funds and that people could always make their money back on the auction by putting it on Ebay. Have these people no shame?

UPDATE 1pm: This piece seems to have caused such outrage that I'm reprinting selected exercpts of the article by the Mail on Sunday's Jonathan Oliver below...


"Cherie Blair was last night accused of 'bad taste' amd 'insensitivity'after helping the Labour Party to cash in on the suicide of Governmet scientist Dr David Kelly. Mrs Blair signed a copy of the Hutton Report into the weapons inspector's death, which was then auctioned off to raise money for the party. The document, which was also signed by Alastair Campbell, fetched £400 at an after dinner auction. Last night Reg Keays, whose Red Cap son Tom was killed by an Iraqi mob in 2003 said: "Cherie and Campbell have shown very bad taste. The coffins draped in the Union flag are still returning from Iraq. To auction off a report which inquired into the suicide of a very eminent, respected scoientist is effectively profting from other people's misery. But themn that is just typical of this government's attitude." Mrs Blair also came under fire from Labour MPs, shocked at the way the tragedy which rocked the government was now the subject of jokey fundraising events. Jeremy Corbyn MP said: "It is incredibly insensitive and in seriously bad taste. The Hutton Report is not a triumph of anything except obfuscation and secrecy." The auction took place on Wednesday at London's Arts Club in mayfair and was organised by James Purnell, the newly promoted pensions minister. The auctioneer was Rhondda MP Chris Bryant who explained to the audience this was not the first time a Hutton Report had been sold for party funds. To excite interest in the sale he pointed out that even unsigned copies cost £70 from HMSO. He boasted that at the previous event the buyer was able to make a profit by reselling the document signed by Alastair Campbell on Ebay. But Mr Bryant insisted this year's lot was unique becasue it also bore the imprint of Mrs Blair. One guest told the Mil on Sunday: "Even at the time there were a lot of people wondering whether it was really appropriate - even in jest."

snip

http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2006/05/cherie-scrapes-barrell-by-signing.html


Words fail.

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Wow - that really is bad, if it's reported correctly

(this is the Mail, after all). It's like Bush's joke video of looking for WMDs under the sofa in the White House.

[Nihil]

2. That is just so sick.

Like they said, totally disconnected from the world of
cares & concerns, isolated from the heartaches of life
and focussed solely on their own greed & vanity.

At moments like these I can understand why Madame La
Guillotine became so popular in the late 1700s ...

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Tory MPs demand an apology

Tory MPs are demanding a public apology from the Labour Party after it emerged members, including ministers, took part in an auction for a copy of the Hutton report into the death of Dr David Kelly which was autographed by Cherie Blair.

According to a Commons motion tabled by Peterborough's Stewart Jackson, the event took place at the Arts Club in Mayfair last week and raised £400 for party coffers.

The motion says the event was "in appalling bad taste, arrogant and crassly insensitive in seeking to make money, albeit indirectly, through hawking, as a novelty item, an official Government report into the death of a public servant".

It "regrets the distress caused to the family and friends of the late Dr Kelly; and calls on the Labour Party to apologise for such tasteless and offensive conduct and to donate the money raised to an appropriate charity".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4488146.stm

[acmavm]

4. Someone please tell me why anyone wants Cherie Blair's autograph

anyway.

[LeftishBrit]

5. That was exactly my thought!

[mr blur]

6. Well, when it comes to sleaze and righteous indignation.

you can't beat The Mail, on Sunday or any other day. You really read this sleazy little rag? Regularly? I'm astonished.

[tjwmason]

7. What is your point?

I too find the Mail to be pretty gut-wrenching - but I also find the hubris of a political clique which would consider a signed copy of the Hutton Report even more gut-wrenching.

[fedsron2us]

8. The Mail may hate Blair

but this story appears to have legs. The fact that two Labour MP's have actually issued apologies suggests that the main elements of the article are correct.

As for the merits of the Mail I have to confess that along with the FT, Guardian, Independent, Telegraph and Times it is on my regular reading list. Usually I buy a different one on each day of the week. If you only get a paper that publishes articles you agree with then you are really doing little more than informing your existing views. Whether I like it or not the Mail is a highly successful mid market paper and a major opinion former in Britain so it is just as well to know what its thinking. At the moment I would say that it loathes Blair but is no great fan of Cameron. It pages are full of feel bad stories about the current state of British politics and institutions. Obviously, it publishes these stories because it has a particular right wing agenda it wants to peddle. Nonetheless, I can not help suspecting that it is tuning into a disillusion with the political system that is fairly widespread among the general populace.

[BooScout]

9. Perhaps they were trying to raise £s for her hairdresser?

Does the woman even have a single brain cell under her coiffure? :eyes: