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
What’s wrong with that?
My mother was right. Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.
It’s what you said. And carried on saying.
~alec
Richas
Iain, my restatement that I would rather spend his money than the left’s (or mine) in winning the referendum is not an endorsement of your characterisation of my view, it was a point of clarification.
As for gay baiting…go for the consistent approach. In my first post I said I preferred a tory to a homophobe. as your allegations about Taylor have spectacularly collapsed why don’t you go for the consistent approach and ask the SNP not to take Souter’s money, not to endorse his calls for lower corporation tax and not to back his calls for legal protections for teachers who denigrate gay marriage?
Go on, oppose clause 28, lower Scottish corporation tax and say that when Scotland has equal marriage teachers should teach that gay marriage is equal.
Iain S
Look at you, valiant defender of Tory money and tireless champion of the Union, categorising people by whether they have the ‘correct sort of ears’ or not. I’m going to guess that you’re the ear judge.
I should have said ‘a Tory’. What is it with you deciding what other people should say? I said what I said.
Iain S
Really, you are tiresome.
And cliche is the lack of imagination.
There you go, putting words into other people’s mouths again. If you can’t win an argument slur someone as homophobic. It doesn’t even matter if you know their sexuality. Just keep repeating the slur.
Iain S
Hey. I would seriously like to respond put I’m all tired out by Alec and I’m thinking about beating myself up.
End of the day, I don’t think that we should leave political funding to the whims of the rich like Taylor or Souter. I don’t think it’s beyond our means to come up with another system.