While the farce of an undemocratic and increasingly damaged House of Lords remains, Recess Monkey would like to make a nomination for the red benches.
This is a picture of Mohamed Iltaf Sheikh, who also goes by the name Richard Sheikh. He is Chairman and Chief Executive of Camberford Law plc as well as the Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum.
Camberford boasts on its website, “As Insurance Brokers, Independent Financial Advisors and Underwriting Agents, we are able to offer a range of special services and facilities”, which no doubt would be useful given the apparently complicated nature of political party finances these days.
Mohamed Iltaf “Richard” Sheikh is by all accounts a generous man and has donated �43,001.50 to the Conservative Party in three donations under the name Mohammed and one under the name Richard. His company has donated a further �25,800.00, which just goes to show how dedicated he is to the functioning of democracy.
But Sheikh’s efforts for the Tory party go way further than these trifling donations. He evidently puts in an enormous amount of work to maintain the activities of the Conservative Muslim Forum, which has held a number of events in recent months, including a meeting at Conservative Annual Conference in September, and which have attracted luminaries such as Michael Howard, Francis Maude and various members of the Shadow Cabinet.
The CMF website makes it absolutely clear that, “The Conservative Muslim Forum is funded entirely by the Chairman, Mohamed Iltaf Sheikh”, yet none of the donations above seem to correspond with the thousands of pounds of funding that CFM seems to require.
It’s also a little strange that there seems to be no official Accounting Unit for CMF, the legally obligatory mechanism by which the Electoral Commission can scrutinise fundraising and election expenses, which are alluded to on the CMF site as follows; “During the election campaign, the Chairman travelled to various parts of the country, to visit Mosques, community centres, schools and businesses. He met with many people and addressed meetings in several constituencies that have a large Muslim population”. The CMF website also fails to sport an imprint, another obligatory regulatory mechanism to ensure political fair play.
Anyway, I am sure these are just oversights or hiccoughs in the bureacracy, none of which will deter me from nominating Sheikh for a peerage. Though I ought to email Tory Party Treasurer Jonathan Marland just to make sure;
a) that Mr Sheikh hasn’t already been nominated for a peerage (don’t want to waste time filling in the form)
b) that Mr Sheikh hasn’t given the Tory Party any “soft” loans/donations (don’t want to get them into trouble with the cops or anything).
It all seems such a fuss - maybe I just shouldn’t bother…
recessmonkey@gmail.com
editor[at]recessmonkey.com
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Conservative Party Conference was in October last year not September as you wrongly state. Typical lefty attitude, cavalier with the facts so long as there is the vaguest chance of diverting attention from a corrupt Labour Govt that has sold Honours.
Matt said this on March 29th, 2006 at 3:00 pm
Indeed you are right - that event took place on 3rd October in Blackpool at the Imperial hotel.
Recess Monkey said this on March 29th, 2006 at 3:04 pm
What the hell was the point of the £1.50, couldn’t he have lent just £43,000? Also, just to be annoying…Why does the CMF become the CFM halfway through your delightful piece?
Charlton Hofie said this on March 29th, 2006 at 9:45 pm
acronym error resolved - s’what happens when you’re up late writing
Recess Monkey said this on March 29th, 2006 at 10:41 pm
Lord Drayson, how many minutes was it after he gave the Labour party £500,000 that he was made a peer?
Guido Fawkes said this on March 29th, 2006 at 11:02 pm
Come on Donkey, you’re blatantly clutching at straws here - there’s nothing in this story!
Eskimo Nell said this on March 30th, 2006 at 12:10 am
It’s odd that the corruption allegations have affixed themselves so much more firmly to Labour than to the Tories. Is this just because they’re the government of the day, and so a better target (plus have more to offer)? Or could it be that there’s still some popular discomfort about the idea of Labour being in bed with the rich?
JonnYossarian said this on March 30th, 2006 at 1:14 am
Whatever anyone says, Tories are still the Party of sleaze. Yes there have been errors of judgement from Labour politicians but these are individual mistakes and bad judgment rather than endemic disregard that the Conservative Party showed both in government and now in opposition for standards in public life as well as clear and open party fundraising.
The situation in the UK is – lest we forget – far better than in the United States where Michael Crick would have a field day chasing round politicians that have secured government contracts in return for votes from constituents and contribution to campaign funds.
The Labour Party may be suffering now for mistakes made by a few people but the wave of disaffection and mistrust felt by voters towards Tories in 1997 should not be forgotten.
To name a few:
David Hamilton – cash for questions
Graham Riddick – cash for questions
David Tredinnick – cash for questions
Tim Yeo - Abandoning an illegitimate child
John Major - Adultery with Edwina Curry
Cecil Parkinson - Abandoning an illegitimate child
Harvey Proctor - Spanking rent boys
Ian Harvey - Cavorting with a guardsman
Stephen Milligan - Autoerotic asphyxiation
William Waldergave and Sir Nicholas Lyell - Arms-to-Iraq
Jonathan Aitkin – perjury
Jeffrey Archer – perjury
Michael Ashcroft – Party Donations
evil eye said this on March 30th, 2006 at 4:39 am
Comment from: Recess Monkey [Member]
Indeed you are right - that event took place on 3rd October in Blackpool at the Imperial hotel.
Nearly but not quite, the Conference was in the Winter Gardens, the Imperial was merely the scene of much getting pissed in various guises, and plotting going on in smoke filled upstairs rooms.
Matt said this on March 30th, 2006 at 3:29 pm
Well evil eye that’s a nice list of various perversions, mainly sexual of course and therefore arguably no one else’s business. Not really a hint of anyone getting a gong out of any of it though, or winning a series of massive Govt outsourcing contracts, or manifestly altering Govt policy, or committing mortgage fraud and being rewarded with a European Commissionership.The problem with Labour’s sleaze is that it is more serious in effect and cheats the people of the right to be governed in their best interests, Tory sleaze is more soap opera than anything else.
Matt said this on March 30th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
I sure none of the Conservative Muslim Forum members were getting pissed at the Imperial.
Recess Monkey said this on March 30th, 2006 at 9:04 pm
As a fearless agent of the Comintern I attended the annual congress of the enemies of the working class and can report that the Imperial Hotel was with the security boundaries the filth erected to save themselves from the righteous anger of the toiling masses and so Comrade Monkey is quite correct in describing it as part of the conference.
All hail Red Army!
Proletarian Vanguard said this on March 30th, 2006 at 11:17 pm
Recess Monkey you should be careful with your accusations lest you be sued for slander.
Majority said this on May 4th, 2007 at 1:07 am