Police to speak to MP in donor row
Dec 1 2007 by Paul James, The Journal
DURHAM police yesterday said they will speak to Liberal Democrat leadership contender Chris Huhne over his complaint about Labour Party donor David Abrahams and his business dealings.
The force announced that senior officers would be contacting the Lib Dem MP in the “near future” following a letter he sent to Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair.
Mr Huhne raised questions about the decision to allow a company controlled by property developer Mr Abrahams to build a business park in County Durham.
Mr Abrahams, who donated more than £650,000 to the Labour Party via middlemen, was given the go-ahead to build a 540-acre park near junction 61 of the A1 at Bowburn, south of Durham City, in October last year.
The development had been delayed for two years until an Article 14 order from the Highways Agency, over fears it would increase congestion on the A1, was lifted. A Durham Police spokesman said: “A senior officer from Durham Police is to speak to Mr Chris Huhne MP in the near future in regard to the contents of a letter he sent to the Metropolitan Police Service earlier this week.”
The announcement comes after the Electoral Commission said it would refer the row surrounding Mr Abrahams’ donations to Labour to the Metropolitan Police “for further investigation”.
On Tuesday, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears pledged a cross-departmental inquiry into claims that Mr Abrahams used two of the same intermediaries to apply for planning permission for the business park that he used to make donations, Ray Ruddick and Janet Kidd.
But on Thursday, Tyne Bridge MP David Clelland reminded the Commons that the Highways Agency block had been lifted after pressure from the Go for Jobs campaign, led by The Journal and the North-East Chamber of Commerce. We launched the campaign after a series of Article 14 orders from the agency blocking job-creating developments over fears they would increase traffic congestion in the region – on roads in which the Government has refused to invest.
Mr Clelland pointed out his own early day motion which praised the campaign. He told the House: “In any discussions that we have on rules and regulations surrounding planning applications, may we take account of the terms of early-day motion 313, which I tabled on November 19.
“The early-day motion draws attention to the fact that a large part of the responsibility for convincing the Highways Agency to lift Article 14 orders in the North-East, including in Durham, lies with The Journal newspaper and the North-East Chamber of Commerce.”
The Leader of the House and Labour Party chairman Harriet Harman, who is among those under fire over the Abrahams donations, said she would pass on Mr Clelland’s comments to Ms Blears. A Durham City Council statement yesterday said the application was dealt in line with current guidance and procedures recommended by the Government.
Last night the Conservatives revealed that shadow minister Eric Pickles has written to Ms Blears regarding the circumstances behind the granting of planning permission for the development.
