The philantropic Mr. Mittal

[PartTimePongo]

Steel magnate - and Britain's richest man - Lakshmi Mittal has donated £2m to the Labour Party.
Tony Blair said he was "delighted that Mr Mittal, who is one of the world's most successful businessmen, has made such a generous donation".

Mr Mittal, who according to the Sunday Times rich list has a £14.8bn fortune, is a longstanding Labour donor

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6268577.stm

A tidy chunk of change, and a very genorous donation from Lord.... ooooops Mr. Mittal.

Good to see foreign businessmen taking an interesting in keeping the wheels of democracy well oiled.

Also good to see that we've all got over the nasty little allegations and slurs of Mittalgate.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1818955.stm


The sooner Political parties are funded from a capped public purse, the better.

 

[Nehustan]

Interesting idea public funding. But doesn't that mean loony fringe parties will also have to be funded?

 

[Brick]

Both sides seem to be doing very well at fundraising at the moment. The Conservative Party appears to be pretty much out of the woods as well.

Take from The Times January 11, 2007

Cameron uses his charms to lift Tories out of the red

Anthony Browne, Chief Political Correspondent

The Conservative Party will pay off all its £16 million debts within the next few weeks after an unprecedented financial bonanza from dinner parties, fundraising clubs and property deals.

The extraordinary reversal in the party’s finances just 18 months after a humiliating election defeat puts it in a powerful position to fight a general election against the Labour Party, which remains crippled by £23 million of debt.

The surge of money into the Tory party is a huge vote of confidence in David Cameron by rich donors who believe that he could soon be in No 10.

The party broke British fundraising records recently by making £500,000 at a £5,000-a-head dinner at Blenheim Palace, hosted by Mr Cameron and his wife, Samantha.

 

[Nehustan]

Both sides seem to be doing very well at fundraising at the moment. The Conservative Party appears to be pretty much out of the woods as well.

Take from The Times January 11, 2007

Cameron uses his charms to lift Tories out of the red

Anthony Browne, Chief Political Correspondent

The Conservative Party will pay off all its £16 million debts within the next few weeks after an unprecedented financial bonanza from dinner parties, fundraising clubs and property deals.

The extraordinary reversal in the party’s finances just 18 months after a humiliating election defeat puts it in a powerful position to fight a general election against the Labour Party, which remains crippled by £23 million of debt.

The surge of money into the Tory party is a huge vote of confidence in David Cameron by rich donors who believe that he could soon be in No 10.

The party broke British fundraising records recently by making £500,000 at a £5,000-a-head dinner at Blenheim Palace, hosted by Mr Cameron and his wife, Samantha.

[align=center]"By the time we got to woodstock
We were half a million strong (££££Kerching!!!!)
And everywhere there was song and celebration
And I dreamed I saw the bombers
Riding shotgun in the sky
And they were turning into butterflies
Above our nation
We are stardust
Billion year old carbon
We are golden
Caught in the devils bargain
And weve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden"[/align]

[align=center]Joni Mitchell, 1970


Gotta be superior to 'Things can only get better'...[/align]

 

[Ancient_Mariner]

Interesting idea public funding. But doesn't that mean loony fringe parties will also have to be funded?

So we'd have the likes of George Galloway and Ken Livingstone funding the BNP through their income tax.

 

[Nehustan]

Interesting idea public funding. But doesn't that mean loony fringe parties will also have to be funded?

So we'd have the likes of George Galloway and Ken Livingstone funding the BNP through their income tax.

Got to be better than the white working class feeling disenfranchised, without a voice, and angry whichever way they lean...

 

[Sven]

Steel magnate - and Britain's richest man - Lakshmi Mittal has donated £2m to the Labour Party.
Tony Blair said he was "delighted that Mr Mittal, who is one of the world's most successful businessmen, has made such a generous donation".

Mr Mittal, who according to the Sunday Times rich list has a £14.8bn fortune, is a longstanding Labour donor

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6268577.stm

A tidy chunk of change, and a very genorous donation from Lord.... ooooops Mr. Mittal.

Good to see foreign businessmen taking an interesting in keeping the wheels of democracy well oiled.

Also good to see that we've all got over the nasty little allegations and slurs of Mittalgate.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1818955.stm


The sooner Political parties are funded from a capped public purse, the better.

Given that Mittal was found to be Britains wealthiest bod, can we not surmise that he now has British citizenship? I ask because I think it is in fact illegal to accept donations from foreign persons

 

[EX_STAB]

Stand by for the rest of the British steel industry to disappear. Nobody gets to be that rich without getting a return on his investments.

 

[Cuddles]

If one penny of public money is allocated to the funding of caucus politics then we should rise up and say "Enough already, oy you mishgeits" or something equally appropriate and overthrow the government. If people want to play silly buggers then fine, do it out of their own pockets. I don't expect government to fund my life style choices FFS!

 

[PartTimePongo]

Given that Mittal was found to be Britains wealthiest bod, can we not surmise that he now has British citizenship?

I thought he didn't have citizenship at the time of Mittalgate?

Bush is on the verge of agreeing to tariffs of between 20 and 40 per cent. Thousands of British jobs could be at stake as the US market dries up. The European Union is furious and is threatening an all-out trade war. Corus, formerly British Steel, wrote to Blair last autumn warning him of the high levels of concern. And still last week - during Prime Minister's questions, when he was grilled again and again over the exact reason for backing an Indian citizen who employs less than 0.1 per cent of his worldwide employees in Britain and is registered in the Dutch Antilles - Blair said LNM was good for Britain.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,651619,00.html

 

[Sven]

Given that Mittal was found to be Britains wealthiest bod, can we not surmise that he now has British citizenship?

I thought he didn't have citizenship at the time of Mittalgate?

Bush is on the verge of agreeing to tariffs of between 20 and 40 per cent. Thousands of British jobs could be at stake as the US market dries up. The European Union is furious and is threatening an all-out trade war. Corus, formerly British Steel, wrote to Blair last autumn warning him of the high levels of concern. And still last week - during Prime Minister's questions, when he was grilled again and again over the exact reason for backing an Indian citizen who employs less than 0.1 per cent of his worldwide employees in Britain and is registered in the Dutch Antilles - Blair said LNM was good for Britain.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,651619,00.html

Sorry, didn't realise You meant only at that time

 

[PartTimePongo]

Does he have citizenship now?

 

[_Artemis_]

If he does, there's no reference to it that's easily available: Forbes in 2005 has his citizenship as Indian.

 

[PartTimePongo]

I had the same problem trying to find details GM_1000,

I woud have thought that one so 'Pro-British' would make no secret of his desire to become a British citizen , or indeed, that he had attained that Nirvana.

After all, another foreign businessman with a corner shop in Knightsbridge makes no secret of his desire to become British.

 

[_Artemis_]

I woud have thought that one so 'Pro-British' would make no secret of his desire to become a British citizen , or indeed, that he had attained that Nirvana.

You surely aren't suggesting that he would want to keep a desire for citizenship to himself? What would be the point? After all, it's not like anyone would point to his donation to, and association with, the Labour party as evidence that there might be anything improper going on if citizenship was granted.

 

[PartTimePongo]

I have no idea GM.

Though it took me 7 attempts to post the story, as the database kept saying "Computer says no"

I finally identified the problem as the word "Mittal" in the subject line.

Hand me the Bacofoil would you?

 

[MrPVRd]

Mittal will be watched closely by the media from now until Bliar's resignation honours list, to see if he dons the ermine before then, or if his company picks up any more work at the expense of British companies.