David Cameron was asked during PMQs today whether or not he would continue hosting dinners at Downing Street with a man named Ian Taylor. He was also urged to return the money Mr Taylor has donated to the Conservative Party.
David Cameron was asked during PMQs today whether or not he would continue hosting dinners at Downing Street with a man named Ian Taylor. He was also asked whether he would be giving back money the same Mr Taylor had donated to the Tory Party.
Mr Cameron gave a curt response, accusing the MP who asked the question – Angus Robertson of the SNP – of playing a “cheap political card”.
So just who is Ian Taylor?
Well first off he is the president and chief executive of the world’s largest oil trader, Vitol, and he has been involved in the oil business for more than 30 years. Since June 2006 he has donated £555,100 to the Tory party. He also dined with David Cameron at Downing Street on 2 November 2011.
In 2001, The Observer revealed that Vitol paid £1 million to Serbian war criminal Željko Ražnatović (better known as Arkan) to arrange an oil deal with the regime of Slobodan Milosevic. For its part Vitol said no illegal conduct was involved in this transaction. According to the the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Arkan was responsible for at least 24 crimes against humanity, including the murder of civilians, rape and ethnic cleansing.
According to Herald Scotland, Vitol, the company which Ian Taylor head, has also in the past used Employee Benefit Trusts to avoid tax on the incomes of its UK staff and has been in discussion with HMRC about a deal to pay this off.
Is it really acceptable for Mr Cameron to dismiss concerns about donations from someone whose company had a relationship with one of Serbia’s most notorious war criminals in so blase a manner?
64 Responses to “David Cameron’s dodgy money”
Alec
You did it again! No use of the indefinite article… so much for the humble admission that you should have said “a Tory”. Your outrage would be more convincing if you were able to muster summat more than “not me, guv” when it comes to mouthy homophobe money going to the cause you’ve hitched your wagon to.
You’ve decided that anyone supporting the Union is ipso facto a Tory supporter… you are a bit of a polemicist, aint you?
~alec
Iain S
Before I go, I just noticed this.
I criticised the SNP for taking Souter’s money, and still do.
If the SNP want lower corporation taxes that’s good for them. It’s not my position and I’m not a member.
I was active in the campaign against Clause 28 and Section 2A. I’ve always supported equal marriage, though I’m not the marrying sort myself.
Does that clear things up for you or, like alec, are you going to continue to play the homophobe card?
Alec
I admit I hadn’t followed the Vitol link as closely as I should have, so thank you for the background.
TBH, I am an equal opportunities cynic towards big Party donations, in which the recipients sometimes have suspended their professed values (in the case of non-Tories) or confirmed their values (in the case of the Tories); and the donor is seeking some sort of self-promotion.
So a mouthy homophobe has donated to the SNP. Well, yes, but shilly-shally about the delivery of marriage equality aside, the SNP are moving towards it much more quickly than he wants. In an independent Scotland – or even a devolved one seeking foreign trade deals – some deals with less-than-democratic governments will take place.
See, for instance, the Scottish Government’s deals with China. I don’t have too great a problem with that; although I do question futile provisos about seeking promises on human rights. If that had been as sincere as implied, it wouldn’t have been entered into.
~alec
Alec
Just keep on blathering. Hopefully no-one will notice that your first comment – which you reiterated – was to set-up a zero sum game between mouthy homophobes helping make life miserable for gays and backers of fascist murder gangs (whose links with said fascist murder gangs is far from conclusive).
Or that backers (if they are backers) of fascist murder gangs are more worthy of comment when they’re donating to a cause you disagree with than when they’re investing in local Scottish industry.
~alec
Richas
Oh I’ll play the homophobe card at Souter and criticise the SNP for compromising with him but I am happy to have you on the side of the angels on equal marriage.