-Caveat Lector- http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/13/1039656218220.html
Print this article | Close this window The Blair witch-hunt project December 14 2002 Almost two weeks since her links with the notorious Australian conman Peter Foster were first exposed, Cherie Blair, QC, mother of four, and wife of Britain's Prime Minister, has been unable to kill off the persistent accusation that she lacks integrity and candour or is a downright liar. That she is probably guilty only of a serious lack of judgement and a poor choice of associates - for which she has tearfully apologised - appears to matter little to either the British public or media. There is blood in the water, and it's time to feed. After a succession of ministerial scandals, Britons are heartily sick of Labour's spin, while the press, having first been misled about Foster's role in helping the Blairs buy property, is in absolutely no mood to let the affair, now dubbed Cheriegate, die away, despite pleas by both Cherie and Tony Blair. Blair says he is "very proud" of how his wife, a part-time judge, has handled herself over Foster, the thrice-jailed conman who appears to have deliberately targeted the Blairs via their friend, Carole Caplin, Mrs Blair's self-styled lifestyle guru. But the PM is increasingly alone. As Margaret Beckett, the Environment Minister and Blair acolyte, acknowledged on Wednesday: "There are clearly quite a large number of people who loathe Cherie Blair, loathe Tony Blair even more and would love to drive him out of public life." Complete with not one but two ex-topless models and a raft of flaky new-age trappings, the scandal has exposed New Labour's inclination to obfuscate and dissemble instead of playing it straight. By first denying that Foster had been Cherie Blair's financial adviser, and then failing to come clean about her role in his deportation proceedings, Downing Street's relationship with the media has sunk to an all-time low. The high-selling tabloids the Daily Mail - which broke the story and printed the killer emails between Foster and Cherie Blair - and the former New Labour supporting Daily Mirror have declared open warfare on the Blairs. The Mail's editor, Paul Dacre, says his paper has "no agenda apart from good journalism" - and, in part, he's right. Persistent journalism and probably a large cheque helped bring the emails between Cherie Blair and Foster to light and make it impossible for Downing Street to fudge the issue. Since then, No 10 and Cherie Blair - and a succession of ministers and senior public servants - have attempted to stem the flow of revelations and half-truths, with only marginal success. The fact is, no one, not even the Mail, has yet found that Mrs Blair has done anything illegal. But as New Labour knows so well, in politics it is the perception that matters as much as the truth. Whether or not the scandal will do lasting electoral damage to Labour remains to be seen. Polls taken after Cherie Blair's plea for understanding found public opinion running about 60 to 40 against the Blairs. In a Mirror poll, Labour has been branded the party of sleaze. Many Britons have not been convinced by Cherie Blair's confession that she had made mistakes, inadvertently promoted "misunderstandings" with the media and was only a working mum, not "superwoman". As Nick Butler, 26, from Manchester, told his local radio station: "At the end of the day she lied and then tried to get the Government to cover it up. It [her speech] sounded like it had come straight from the No 10 press office." Of course, it had. But despite the public outrage, the Tory Opposition has so far proved incapable of making political mileage out of the affair. Dismissing calls for an inquiry, Tony Blair allowed himself a sly dig at the Conservative leader, Iain Duncan Smith: "It's absolutely typical of him that he dives into the swimming pool just as the water is running out." Veteran pollster Bob Worcester, the chairman of the Mori group, told the Herald that while the affair might cost Labour a few points in the polls, it only reinforced the existing view that Labour was the party of spin. This same perception had not cost it the previous election, and neither would it the next, which would be fought on the economy, health, education, transport and the delivery of services. "There is already little trust in No 10's spin," he said. "It [the Foster affair] will have no impact on the next general election. Frankly, it doesn't amount to a hill of beans." Attempts to link Tony Blair directly to the scandal via the use of the family's blind trusts to buy the two flats have also proved largely unsuccessful. The Prime Minister and his most senior independent public servant, Sir Andrew Turnbull, have assured the Opposition and public there was nothing wrong in releasing money for the flats from the trust. Turnbull claims the Blairs had used the trust for security reasons, and there were no conflict of interest reasons preventing them from doing so. Likewise, Downing Street has been at pains to, belatedly, sever all connections with Foster, saying the Blairs had repaid the accountants' fees that he allegedly stumped up for them. But like horror-movie vampires, Foster, whose ex-girlfriends include topless legend Samantha Fox and Caplin, simply will not die. While the relationship between Foster and Caplin, herself a former topless model, is reportedly on the rocks after recent revelations and a miscarriage, it continues to keep the heat on Number 10. On Thursday, Downing Street was having to fend off reports that Cherie Blair had not only spoken to Foster's lawyers about deportation proceedings against him, which were revealed earlier in the week, but had read the case against him and offered advice. It was up to Caplin to break her silence and take the rap, claiming she had asked Foster to fax the legal papers through to her while she was visiting Cherie Blair. "I was pregnant and very worried," she said. "Cherie told me it would not be right for her to read them as it was not her case, so I folded them up, put them in my bag and took them home, basically. At no stage did Cherie speak to Peter Foster about this." Foster faces deportation on December 18, but plans to again appeal. If he is unsuccessful, it would probably be the best Christmas present Cherie and Tony Blair have ever had. The story so far December 1 The Mail on Sunday newspaper claims Cherie Blair used fraudster Peter Foster to buy flats in Bristol, where her son, Euan, is at university. Downing Street denies the claim, saying Foster was not Blair's financial adviser. Foster is the boyfriend of Carole Caplin, a close friend of Blair. Dec 3 The Home Office calls Foster's solicitor to advise him his client's deportation has been brought forward from December 18 to December 6. The Home Office is later forced to deny any political pressure. Dec 5 The Daily Mail prints emails proving link between Foster and Blair. In them, she calls him a "star" for helping negotiate purchase of flats. Blair accepts blame for any misunderstanding between Downing Street and the press. Dec 9 Foster's solicitors reveal Blair was involved in calls about Foster's deportation. She claims she was only helping her friend Caplin. Pending appeal, his removal on hold. Dec 10 Blair uses charity function to apologise publicly for trouble she's caused her husband. Claims she is trying to juggle career with role as PM's wife. "I am not Superwoman," she says. Dec 11 The Blairs sever connection with Foster and pay off accountants' fees he claimed to have footed. Tony Blair rejects Opposition calls for a parliamentary inquiry into use of blind trust to buy flats. Pleas for media to move on. Dec 12 The Scotsman newspaper claims Cherie Blair advised Foster on how to beat deportation after papers faxed to Downing Street. Caplin takes the blame. Downing Street denies Blair looked at papers. Scandal refuses to die. This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/13/ 1039656218220.html <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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