Blair under pressure to drop MP from race

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, MAY 4. The British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair was today under pressure to drop from the election race a prominent Labour MP and a party benefactor, Mr. Geoffrey Robinson, following a parliamentary committee's report accusing him of a ``cover-up'' relating to a large financial transaction.

This is the third time that he has been censured for not declaring his money dealings, and was forced to resign as Treasury Minister in 1998 amid a controversy over a loan he gave to his then ministerial colleague, Mr. Peter Mandelson to help him buy a house at a fashionable London address. The latest charge relates to a œ200,000 payment he is alleged to have received from the controversial media tycoon, late Robert Maxwell, as part of a business deal.

Under the MPs code of conduct, Mr. Robinson was expected to disclose this in the Register of Members' Interests, a log book in which all MPs are supposed to record private earnings, but he didn't. He has consistently denied receiving the money, but his position has been compromised by revelations in a new book which contains what its author claims is an invoice confirming the payment. The invoice is said to be stamped ``paid''.

The author, Mr. Tom Bower, an investigative journalist, told a T.V. channel that when he told Mr. Robinson that he had seen the invoice, the MP ``paused'' and then said:``But you were not supposed to.'' The parliamentary watchdog headed by the high- profile Ms. Elizabeth Filkin, who got into a row with the Europe Minister, Mr. Keith Vaz while inquiring into his business links, said in a report today that it was not satisfied with Mr. Robinson's explanation. It also suggested that he had not fully cooperated with her. Ms. Filkin's insistence on releasing an interim report is believed to have angered Labour MPs who fear that this could be embarrassing for the party on the eve of a general election.

Ms. Filkin has ruffled too many feathers since she took over the job and is widely seen to be too aggressive - and often exceeding her brief. Mr. Robinson, who is a multimillionaire and has donated to the Labour Party fund, has been a constant source of embarrassment to the Government, The Times pointed out quoting his ``friends'' as saying that he would fight to clear his name. He was said to be ``determined not to be forced out of politics'', and on the face of it the Labour leadership appeared to be in no mood to oblige those demanding Mr. Robinson's scalp.

The Tories, however, insisted that he could not possibly run for election with the charge of ``sleaze'' hanging over his head. ``This is a test of whether the Prime Minister is serious about cleaning up the Labour Party,'' a Tory spokesman said underlining the fact that Mr. Robinson was no ordinary MP but had been at ``the heart of the New Labour project, a former Minister who still has the ear of (the Chancellor) Mr. Gordon Brown.''

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Section  : International
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