Via the BBC:
A former donor to the Liberal Democrats is to be tried for fraud in his absence after he skipped bail.
A warrant was issued last month for the arrest of businessman Michael Brown, whose firm gave more than £2m to the Liberal Democrats.
Subscribe
-
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
-
Like us on Facebook
-
Subscribe to our feed
-
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Most Read
Search
Op-eds
-
By-Election Report 01.10.26 (Joe Nutt)
-
Picking our allies, a perspective on Israel/Palestine (Gillian Mosely)
-
Burnham is right to reform the triple lock; the Lib Dems should support it (James Hill)
-
Why I won’t Wayve goodbye to Black Cabs (Christian de Vartavan)
-
Keep the earnings link: don’t repeat the mistakes of the 80s (Chris Perry)
-
Some of the churches of Gower
-
Lib Dem MPs are talking to the media about their concern at the party's direction
-
Latest voting intention and leadership ratings opinion polls
-
Blackburn Reform councillor accused of farting at rival
-
State of Play: a classic BBC political drama revisited
-
Lib Dems make another by-election gain in Highlands
-
The Joy of Six 1585
-
Has Ed Davey got it wrong on the triple lock?
Recent Comments
Nigel Jones
@Vince, your nuanced approach makes some sense and as you say it is a complicated situation. If we get gas from the Jackdaw field and not importing it, does tha...- Nigel Jones
I agee with your main argument. We do not need to support many pensioners with the triple lock and those who are poor should be provided for in another way. I ... 
Jana
Two seats where Restore standing has probably cost Reform gains. If this becomes an ongoing pattern, Farage may have to swallow his pride and do a deal with Res...
Chris Bowers
Thank you to everyone who commented on my post, even if, by the end, the responses had drifted into the realm of comments-about-comments-about-comments. I think...
Chris Perry
What the Prime Minister actually said was that if a prices link or 2.5% did not keep up with earnings over time the government would correct it. But that would ...
6 Comments
At least he is being described as a “donor to the Liberal Democrats” and not “Liberal Democrat donor”, which is the phrase the Tory spinsters prefer to use.
As per usual though, the headline et al implies that the fraud is something to do with his donation.
For God’s sake GP – show a little contrition?
Personally, I’m more concerned that, at a time when desperate people are being denied legal aid, a convicted fraudster who has skipped bail can get it in absentia.
The thing that worries me the most is the ease with which people with lots of money can use it to buy massive influence with political parties who cannot afford to turn it down – much, much more influence than an individual who works their entire political life for the values they believe in. There are clear examples with all the main parties including the Nats. Equally worrying is when an MP switches late in their career and gets a lordship out of it. Often there is more evidence of personal self interest than a convergence of values. Ultimately though I know which one I would trust.
I’ve never understood this – someone somewhere is throwing money at this in order to run a smear campaign against us…and a very clever one at that!
David, I agree that buying influence is a bad thing, but given the context I think it’s worth stressing that there’s no evidence of Brown having won any influence with his donation.