SNOW HONOUR

Loan rangers
============

Tonight we get a whiff of what passes for the supposed 'new
transparency' in British politics as the Electoral Commission blows the whistle on
Labour and Tory parties alike. They've asked the parties a bunch of
questions about the millions of pounds they've had in the form of loans,
and whether the terms of those secret loans should be made no longer
secret to see whether they fell foul of the rules.

But the Commission is severely unimpressed by the response of the
parties who have failed to answer the questions, and have instead merely
stated that everything about the loans is above board.

Indeed, so wound up is the Commission by the parties that, in effect,
it's tonight saying that without being given proper detailed answers
it's simply not inclined to believe the parties, and is now threatening to
force the parties under law to cough up the information it wants.

Another aspect of the 'new transparency' is that neither of the parties
will agree to be interviewed tonight.

And all of this is aside from the allegations and suspicions that both
parties have been selling honours. Police are also investigating
whether government contracts had some relationship to honours and loans.
Different stench, same part of the forest.

should bring back McCarthy for this one no?

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