How unbelievably grubby and sordid; plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
Author: coldwaterjohn
CWJ travelled extensively with his family, having worked in eleven countries over thirty years. A keen photographer, holding a Private Pilot's Licence, he focuses mainly on landscape and aerial imagery. Having worked in the Middle East extensively he follows developments in that region with particular interest, and views with growing concern, the radicalisation flowing from Islamic fundamentalism, and the intolerance for opposing views, stemming from it. View all posts by coldwaterjohn
Boadicea's Chariot 
This is a £1000 per plate fund raising dinner. Grubby, but all political parties do it. The Tories were unwise enough for theirs to be the first this season. Not really access for cash.
This event does not even register on the sleaze-richter scale. Every ‘celebrity’ dinner can be seen as somehow immoral if you wish.
I can see it now in this weekends Screws of the World.
Conservative Camerons ‘Cash for Carrots’ Crisis.
Sorry CWJ, if a bunch of z listers and eejits with more money than sense want to spend a grand each on a plate of over fannied, miniscule portioned, hoighty toighty, nonce grub then more fool them.
No sleaze, just good old fashioned idiocy.
As bad as saying Pork Pies with Prescott!
I don’t mind any government selling access to ministers – if the proceeds go into the public purse – which, of course, they don’t. What I do mind is if that access leads to subversion of any procedures for contracts, etc – which, of course, it does.
I do agree that you’d be able to tick the idiot box to pay £10 to meet one of these characters, never mind £1,000. That they “all do it”, doesn’t make it any less sordid. It is one thing to pay £1,000 per head for a charity dinner in aid of Cancer Research or something similar, but how can we criticise the corruption of a Zardari, or any one of a number of African Dictators, when our politicians are up there with the worst of them, in generating funds for their own parties, by advertising that payment of £1,000 will provide you with access to a Minister…
Fund-raising dinners for a political party I don’t have a particular problem with – it is the sheer effrontery with which they offer access to ministers for money which appalls me – what sort of a Third World tinpot outfit have they turned us into?