Thursday 6 May 2010

David Cameron accused of being dishonest over links with 'Conservative madrasa'

A screengrab from Conor Burns's website, showing him with David Cameron. Burns was until recently the vice-president of the Young Britons' Foundation
David Cameron has been accused of being "completely dishonest" about his links to a controversial Conservative party affiliate whose leadership has described the NHS as the biggest waste of money in the UK and suggested that the waterboarding of prisoners can be justified.
In an interview prior to the election campaign, the Tory leader denied all knowledge of the Young Britons' Foundation, which has been dubbed "the Conservative madrasa" because of its radical views and role in training young party activists, including some parliamentary candidates.
Asked about his links to the group last month, Cameron said: "I don't know anything about the Young Britons' Foundation."
But Cameron had already contributed to a YBF-branded guide to essential reading for young Conservatives, according to the YBF's chief executive, Donal Blaney, a Kent-based solicitor. The Guardian has also obtained photographs of him meeting the organisation's director of strategy, vice-president, and then operations director before he denied knowledge of the group. Its director of research, Alex Deane, was formerly Cameron's chief of staff.
The YBF's leaders promote a version of free-market liberalism in line with the US neoconservative movement and some of its residential camps for young party activists involving visits to shooting ranges to fire sub-machine guns and assault rifles. In an article on his own website, entitled Scrap the NHS, not just targets", its chief executive, Donal Blaney, wrote: "Would it not now be better to say that the NHS – in its current incarnation – is finished?"
Its president is Daniel Hannan MEP, a staunch critic of the NHS, which Cameron has claimed is his top priority should he become prime minister.
Senior members of the shadow cabinet have repeatedly tried to distance themselves from the YBF despite having spoken at YBF events. Eric Pickles, the party chairman, and Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, spoke at the YBF's parliamentary rally in March, but tried to distance themselves from the group afterwards. Fox was listed as a member of the YBF's parliamentary council on its website until the page was removed recently.
"The YBF's tentacles reach deep into the shadow cabinet and show the influence of the extreme anti-NHS, pro-torture, neocon wing of the party," said Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrats' home affairs spokesman. "If Cameron claims not to know who they are he is being completely dishonest."
In a circular email about a planned YBF-branded manual called Reading the Right Books: Essential Reading for Young Conservatives, Blaney wrote to YBF supporters on 8 January 2009 stating: "I have so far received some 50 suggestions from MPs including from David Cameron, William Hague, Michael Gove, Damian Green, David Davis, Jeremy Hunt, Oliver Letwin and David Willetts." He repeats his assertion about Cameron's involvement on the YBF website.
Cameron has also been photographed endorsing the Conservative candidate for Bournemouth West, Conor Burns, who until recently was the YBF's vice-president, shaking hands with Paul Osborn, the YBF's director of strategy and presenting an award for political activism to Christian May, who was then YBF operations director.
Cameron's spokesman could neither confirm nor deny whether he had worked with the YBF on the planned book.
"Amongst the many hundreds of letters and emails David Cameron's office receives every day, they occasionally include requests for book recommendations," a spokesman said. "The YBF is independent of the Conservative party."
Labour MP Jon Cruddas said: "At best, Mr Cameron has been elusive about his links to the YBF, at worst he is systematically involved in a 'madrasa' for far-right views which he has again and again attempted to disguise. This doesn't bode well if he becomes prime minister on Friday."
On Monday, the YBF launched a nationwide leaflet and video campaign against a hung parliament, which suggested such an outcome could cause unemployment to hit 5 million, Britain to lose its place on the UN security council, and the BNP to eventually win 20 seats in the House of Commons if proportional representation is introduced as a result.
Huhne said yesterday it was a "coordinated, expensively funded and probably illegal smear operation with links right to the top of the Conservative party".
The Lib Dems believe the 500,000-leaflet campaign would have cost more than £10,000, the limit before you have to register with the Electoral Commission, and could therefore be illegal.
Robert Booth @'The Guardian'

2 comments:

  1. What a load of cack. Have people not got bigger issues to deal with at the moment?

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  2. 2Anon/
    And you don't think that lying and describing the NHS as a wate of money are BIG issues?
    The real issue is how much conning the population the tories are doing before the election...
    Regards/

    ReplyDelete