Mark Pack

Peter Mandelson vs Norman Baker

By | Sat 14th March 2009 - 11:22 am

From the Daily Mirror:

Lord Mandelson yesterday was at the centre of a secrecy row after refusing to reveal his business interests.

The Business Secretary has placed all his shareholdings in a blind trust – meaning they cannot be seen by the public…

Lib Dem MP Norman Baker said: “He must know what has been put in and we ought to know too or it subverts the announcement.” No10 said: “The point is Lord Mandelson doesn’t even know, therefore it doesn’t affect his decisions.”

The Downing Street ‘rebuttal’ strikes me as particularly weak, because if you’ve put a whole load of investments in a blind trust you (a) know what went in, and (b) know that it’s very likely that most of the trust’s current holdings are the same as (a). Far from not knowing, you’ve actually got a pretty good idea.

Read more by or more about or .
This entry was posted in News.
Advert

2 Comments

  • Stuart 14th Mar '09 - 11:29am

    Keep up the good work Norman!

  • David Heigham 14th Mar '09 - 12:18pm

    Does he know what assets went into the trust? Does he, as some other Ministers do, see returns from time to time of what is in the trust?

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert

Recent Comments

  • Paul WalterPaul Walter
    Peter, please see my ample answers above. I have made it perfectly clear what I believe. Best wishes, Paul...
  • Peter Martin
    @ Paul, I accept you are agreeing to an extent. A limited extent. "There are ample legal mechanisms for ensuring that the financial settlement with t...
  • Paul WalterPaul Walter
    Peter: “We shouldn’t tolerate the term “Crown Dependency” being a synonym for “tax haven”.” I don’t know whether you are actually reading my ...
  • David Raw
    I rather thought the 3rd Duke and Duchess of Atholl sold the Isle of Man's feudal and sovereign rights in 1765 for £70,000 via the Isle of Man Purchase Act 176...
  • Roland
    @Peter Martin - I was responding to the curved ? ball Jeff throw out about Motability: If they can't charge VAT then its okay to reclaim the VAT rather than sim...