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Tuesday 2 March 2010

Compare and contrast Lord Ashcroft and Peter Mandelson

From JohnT a commenter on today's Telegraph:
"As far as I know, Lord Ashcroft has not yet made, sworn to and signed a misleading statement on a mortgage loan application.
Ashcroft has never borrowed money from a shadow cabinet colleague and then concealed it.
I don’t recall that Ashcroft ever attempted to use public office to obtain UK passports for any wealthy foreign ‘business’ contact charged with corrupt practices in their country of origin.
Ashcroft has never cosied up to any Russian moguls and accepted hospitality from them. Nor has Ashcroft ever hidden his meetings diary from public view.
Ashcroft has not enriched himself from taxpayer-funded public office.
Ashcroft has always been sensibly discreet about his private life.
Ashcroft does not spend half his time having lunch.
Nor does he waste precious moments bad-mouthing his political opponents or dissing anyone who’s been less than nice to or about him, or threatening reporters and journalists that he’ll complain if they don’t do things exactly His Way.
Ashcroft has become rich through his business activities, and by applying his mind to becoming wealthy. The source of his property wealth is not a mystery, as it is with certain others.
Ashcroft did not claim expenses to do up a tax-funded property before selling it at a profit, and then insist aggressively that the decoration work was simply ‘necessary repairs’.
Ashcroft has made himself a millionaire through his business activities, which have brought profit to shareholders, and not by living off the public teat.
Ashcroft has not invented a long and pretentious titles for himself or for his job, nor does he fake plummy patrician tones and an air of self-indulgent languor.
Ashcroft was not made a peer because he had no job and had to be given one by his party friends: he is not one whose past has made him completely unelectable.
Ashcroft does not imagine the world owes him a living.
The list is endless."

And from Ian Bryan in the same section:
"Michael Ashcroft , is the major donor to crime stoppers. Leading to 87,400 arrests, recovery of property to the tune £103 million, has removed £159 million of drugs off our streets. The organisation has also lead to 800 people have been charged with murder or attempted murder

While we are on it, Michael Ashcroft – The Ashcroft Technology Academy (ATA), in south-west London was set up by him to provide a free education for more than 1,000 inner city children of all abilities and backgrounds.

Michael Ashcroft also supports education, health, arts and sports charities in the Caribbean and Central America through the Michael A Ashcroft Foundation. In 1993 he endowed The Ashcroft School in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the British West Indies.

It begs the question what has Mandelson done other than acquire titles?"

Fair comments or not?

1 comment:

Grant said...

Brilliant post and all ignored by the BBC , of course.

I is amusing that one of Mandelson's many titles is "business secretary" and he has never been in business in his life. Maybe he should take advice from Lord Ashcroft.

Anon. You are Peter Mandelson, aren't you and you're having a
laugh ?