Teaching Comparative

Troubles for Tony, part 53 (?)

If I used this New York Times article in class, I would want my students to note and explain

• how the effects of this scandal in Britain compare to the effects it might have in a presidential system
  
• what the political significance of finding major funding outside of the unions was for the Labour Party
  
• the process of political recruitment and succession
  

Top Blair Fund-Raiser Arrested in British Labor Party Scandal


LONDON, July 12 — Lord Levy, Prime Minister Tony Blair's chief fund-raiser, as well as his tennis partner and Middle East emissary, was arrested on Wednesday in connection with allegations that Labor Party backers were offered peerages in return for loans and donations.

The development, which surprised many politicians, brought the long-simmering scandal closer to Mr. Blair and raised new questions about the future of his increasingly beleaguered government...

Lord Levy and Mr. Blair met soon after Mr. Blair became the leader of the Labor Party in 1994 and subsequently became friends. At that time, Lord Levy was known largely as a pop music impresario who had managed singers, including Alvin Stardust, and once owned a recording company.

As a fund-raiser, nicknamed Lord Cashpoint, he helped Labor replace the labor unions as its traditional source of money. The change was important to Mr. Blair’s effort to remodel the party and rebrand it as New Labor.
After Mr. Blair came to office, Lord Levy, previously Michael Abraham Levy, was named Baron Levy of Mill Hill. In 2000, Mr. Blair appointed Lord Levy as his personal envoy to the Middle East...

Lord Levy also played a central role in promoting one of Mr. Blair’s favored education projects — so-called city academies built with private money largely to replace failing public high schools in run-down neighborhoods. In April, the police arrested a former government adviser, Des Smith, over charges that the government was prepared to offer honors in return for donations to the academies...

After nine years in office, Mr. Blair’s position seems shaky for a variety of reasons. His support of President Bush in the Iraq war has left him unpopular with many Britons. He has said that he will not contest a fourth election, indicating that, at some stage, he will step aside as Labor Party leader in favor of Gordon Brown, the chancellor of the exchequer.

Frequent sniping between Mr. Blair and Mr. Brown has only deepened a sense of disarray, though...

posted by Ken Wedding @ 9:56 AM