A Black Day For Brown Balls

Today heralded the dawn of a damning day for the fag-end party of failure. A day of newspaper negatives nobbling New Labour from left, right and centre. The finger of suspicion points to the centre of the storm. A black day for Brown Balls.

The medium is the message and the message is not looking good for the clapped out New Labour brand of spin and deceit. Past failures and lies are coming back to haunt them.

Newspapers shape the TV news bulletins and for the parties media monitoring units, the soundbites and clips are all that matters.

Most negatives can be turned into positives with a bit of the soft shoe spin shuffle but headlines and copy with a damning subtext lingers in the mind.

Shoesmith maybe in the frame again over Baby Peter but it is 'Bully-Boy' Balls who is fingered in The Times and Mail, accused of an "interfering" with a cover-up to "shift the blame" to save his own political skin. Leaning on the independent inquiry to 'sex up' evidence against the Baby P council chief.

Porkie Brown is at it again. This time "misleading" the public over waiving VAT on a Haiti charity single, according to the Independent.

Rebuttals came thick and fast but mud sticks. Defence cuts, migration figures. The finger of suspicion points to Porkie Brown - lying through his teeth.

Mandy is the new 'face' of the fag-enders election campaign - in your face and all over the place.

The Prince of Darkness is falling apart, still attracting rapid fire from business bosses after accusing them of being "deceived" by the Tories over New Labour's NI jobs tax. The Telegraph and Guardian make uneasy bedfellows but both bang the drum for business leaders, not Mandy spin.

A spat with YouGov has the Torygraph claiming the pollster "gives Labour an unfair advantage", sparked off by a distinctly odd poll in the rival Sunday Times. Rigged dodgy polls to suit a political end or just muddled methodology? That doesn't matter. The message in the bottle. YouGov's New Labour supporting president, Kellner, married to Brown's pal Ashton slipped in undercover to the top EU job, is there in the Telegraph copy.

Peter Hoskin at the Spectator puts it all rather well: "I doubt Brown would have chosen such a sickly backdrop to his election announcement next week."

Even the cunning Downing Street plan of a short and snappy formal election campaign cannot save them. The broadcast media's hands may be tied by the election laws of balance and fairness but that doesn't stop a spot story from the "events" diary blowing up in their face and reported with glee.

The Orange Party has said so often - the election is boiling down to honesty and trust. And honesty is the first casualty in the world of Brown sauce, as Jeff Randall notes today in his Telegraph swan song.

The tide may even be turning for Battling Bob Crow. Rigged ballots or a rigged legal blocking move? Cutbacks and rail safety are at the heart of the RMT dispute. A message the old leftie is starting to get across, despite the bullshit from his sworn New Labour enemies.

Tired old New Labour with busted credibility and five more years of a lamentable, lying leader. The Orange Party can sense a wind of change. And not just in the Tories election slogan and new found spring optimism.

Dave's Tories have finally pressed the red button on the pre-election grid marked attack now. And that chimes with an increasingly angry and frustrated public mood, reflected in an increasingly hostile media.

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Rapid Rebuttals Can Be Pain In The Butt

April 1 has come in with a joke, a splash, a smear and a bang and a rapid rebuttal that backfired. And there's still a few days to go before the election call.

Make one mistake in today's world of fast-paced politics and you fall flat on your face. The US style quick-fire election campaigning is here to stay.

But that doesn't suit some political commentators. Bogged down with the detail, the BBC's Nick Robinson is a case in point, pandering to the current crop of political narratives. But voters don't give a monkeys.

Out in the real world polls show the public is worried about jobs, the debt-ridden economy and the vexed issue of immigration. But all they are getting is spin, fiddled figures and dodgy opinion polls with Kellner's YouGov singled out for attack.

And what will stick in voters minds if anything today is the Grauniad's splendid April 1 spoof campaign ad (top). It makes you laugh. It makes you cry. It makes you think. And it puts paid to the wet brigade's wimp that attack posters don't work.

Today's tit-for-tat 'jobs tax' spat is still doing the rounds, sparked off by a splash in the Torygraph, with 23 big bosses backing Tory NI cuts to protect jobs. All in the time span of one miserable morning. Leading the New Labour attack dog pack is Mandy, fronting the well-honed rapid rebuttal unit and the public face of Party's election campaign.

But with 24 hour rolling news and rapid rebuttal come mistakes. Quick decisions have to be made, on the hoof, sent out by BlackBerry.

There's a rolling news cycle out there just waiting for someone to screw up. Make a wrong call and you're dead meat.

And so it came to pass, with the smear tactic that big bosses were in the pockets of Tories and "deceived" into backing Tory plans. Angry bosses hit back saying such claims were “patronising”. Wrong call Mandy. It's the quality of the attack lines which count, particularly when you attack powerful and influential business leaders.

And why bother with such an attack? Play it down. Tough times need tough decisions from a tough government and all that.

But old dirty tricks die hard. New Labour smears attacked the messenger and scored an own goal.

Masterful Mandy may be second to none when it comes to the acidic put down. But this is Mandy, prince of darkness and viper-in-chief, not some two-bit empty talking suit.

Policies and personalities sure but the election is boiling down to trust and honesty. Something the Orange Party has banged on about time and again.

The statistics watchdog wrapping Porkie Brown's knuckles over misleading immigration figures will linger in voters minds. Why would anyone believe Mandy or Porkie Brown?

Voters won't be taken in or taken for fools on April 1 or any other day. They'll tune in, turn on and turn off. The media class sport of regurgitating the current narratives pushed by whichever party is a real turn off, until a rebuttal goes spectacularly wrong, busting any credibility.

The days of Tories wobbles are over. Sharp suits and sharp lines are the order of the day. Tired old New Labour better get used to it.

The rising star of the government's 'media monitoring unit', director Clarence Mitchell, famous for the Madeline McCann campaign, is now behind the scenes at Tory HQ, after switching sides to give Tory spinners a hand.

All this frenzied action before Bottling Brown has even got round to naming the day and firing the starting gun of a short and snappy election campaign proper. For the Tories, things can only get better.

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Blair Charities Illegally Fund Election Website?

'Tricky Dicky' Blair has set up a dodgy new electioneering website. All part of CREEP - his Campaign to RE-Elect the Prime minister. The Orange Party thought it would be fun to follow the money.

Is Phoney Blair illegally using funds from his charities, forming part of his complex web of secret companies, as a cover to bang the drum for New Labour?

The complex ownership of washed-up Blair’s new campaign website TonyBlair4Labour.org is shrouded in secrecy, hidden behind sham shell companies. But it seems cash from his charities are funnelled to the very company which runs his campaign website.

And that would break charity commission rules, make the move illegal once the election is called and downright dishonest if, heaven forbid, the Vicar's charities cash is channelled through off-shore tax-havens.

Much of the Blair income including cash from the charities, the 'Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative' and the 'Tony Blair Faith Foundation' has been channelled through the crafty structure 'Windrush Ventures No 3 Limited Partnership'.

And that exploits a little-known loophole in UK company law at the centre of the scam to keep his finances secret, leading some to describe his financial arrangements as 'Byzantine' and 'opaque'.

And who runs Blair's spanking new website? Step forward the very same Windrush Ventures No.3 LP, according to the website's terms and conditions. You can't keep a slick snake-oil salesman down. The website describes "The Office of Tony Blair" as "a trading name of Windrush Ventures No.3 LP".

But the charities commission states quite clearly: "Charities must not support or oppose a political party or candidate. Charities must not donate funds to political parties."

More so when an election is called and strict election laws kick in. "The guiding principle of charity law in terms of elections is that charities should be, and be seen to be, independent from party politics," warns the commission.

Blair's vast wealth gleaned from a £4.6m book deal and lucrative advising jobs for a US bank and a Swiss insurer is hidden away in commercial consultancy 'Tony Blair Associates' and Blair charities. Earlier this month it emerged Blair had carried out secret South Korea deals leading the Mail to reveal his "secret investment deals in low-tax regimes".

Profit-making schemes involving a dozen different legal entities are at the heart of the Blair Rich Project, handling the unprecedented millions funnelled through a couple of "limited partnerships" - 'Windrush Ventures' and a mirror 'Firerush Ventures' running side by side.

Yet the so-called limited partnership, 'Windrush Ventures No 3 LP' consists on paper of a partnership between an entity owned by Blair himself and an anonymous off-the-shelf company.

The members of Windrush Ventures No.3 limited partnership are BDBCO No.819 Ltd and Windrush Ventures No.2 LLP. But the off-the-shelf company, 'BDBCO No 819 Ltd' does not reveal its ownership on records at Companies House. Instead, its shares are listed as held by a second off-the-shelf entity, 'BDBCO No 822'.

While the law requires Blair to publish limited accounts for parts of the Windrush entities, the finances of the master-partnership remain a secret. But more than £6m of Blair earnings has found its way down from the partnership into other companies.

The Blair Rich Project's complex financial structures using highly specialised limited partnerships and parallel companies were unravelled by accountant Richard Murphy who solved the mystery buried in the small print of the Partnership (Accounts) Regulations 2008, following a Guardian online competition to "shine the brightest light" on Blair's dodgy financial dealings.

Blair, who would normally have to publish company accounts detailing the millions flowing into his various ventures, found a crafty way to keep his wealth secret giving him the benefits of running a UK company but without prying eyes.

But Blair's complex tax dealings has led some to question whether he's paying full UK tax on all overseas earnings and whether some companies are in tax-havens, deliberately keeping client names secret.

A Blair spokesman has insisted the ex-PM was a 'UK resident taxpayer on all of his income'. But details of the full revenues remain hidden. Blair refuses to offer any explanation over why he is using the complex structures described by the Financial Times as "neither tax efficient nor managerially useful".

The sham shell smokescreen gives Blair the cover of an offshore "secrecy jurisdiction" while allowing him to state that he remains a "regular, onshore, British taxpayer", fuelling speculation that Blair might have been thinking of going offshore before his EU president bid was scuppered.

The Orange Party noted on Tuesday it was time a forensic accountant took a fresh look at the legality of phoney Blair's sordid shady tax dealings, asking what has Blair got to hide that he'd go to such extraordinary lengths and cost to keep his tax affairs so secret? Add to that using his charities as an illegal cover for political electioneering.

But with delicious irony it seems New Labour's 'secret weapon' has backfired. Research by PoliticsHome suggests perma-tanned Blair’s intervention in the election may do more harm than good for the fag-end campaign.

Blair wealth graphic: Guardian

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Phoney Blair's Secret Dodgy Dealings

Desperate New Labour has unveiled its 'secret weapon' in the election battle. A money-grabbing tax cheat, probed over 'cash for honours' with blood on his hands over Iraq. Phoney baloney Blair returned to his Sedgefield stomping ground with the mystery over his secret dodgy financial dealings hanging over his head.

Haunted by lies over the illegal war, perma-tanned Blair is left to wander the world with guilt on his shoulders and a stash of cash.

Millions of pounds have been channelled through a fog of commercial, charitable and religious con-tricks since the snake-oil salesman was booted out of office.

The extent of Blair's wealth is astonishing, leading some to describe his financial arrangements as 'Byzantine' and 'opaque'.

But the vast wealth from a £4.6m book deal, lucrative jobs advising a US bank and a Swiss insurer and a dodgy South Korean deal, is hidden away in commercial consultancy 'Tony Blair Associates', charities and shell companies.

The Mail, on Blair's case again today over "secret investment deals in low-tax regimes", reckons his earnings will hit around £40 million over five years. With wealth comes property. Paying £5.75m for a stately pile in Buckinghamshire in addition to the £4.45m paid for a London home in Connaught Square and an adjoining mews house.

There's a charity, the 'Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative', and another called the 'Tony Blair Faith Foundation'. Much of the income has been funnelled through a crafty structure called 'Windrush Ventures No 3 Limited Partnership'.

The Blair Rich Project's complex financial structures using highly specialised limited partnerships and parallel companies are a shameful mystery worth unravelling.

So much so that The Guardian recently launched an online competition offering a prize to the person who can "shine the brightest light".

Solving the mystery, the winner unearthed a little-known loophole in UK company law at the centre of the scam, being used by Blair to keep his finances secret. Accountant Richard Murphy, of Tax Research UK identified the small print of the Partnership (Accounts) Regulations 2008 as the key to the mystery.

Blair would normally have to publish company accounts detailing the millions flowing into his various commercial ventures. But found a crafty way to keep his wealth secret. And that gave him the benefits of running a UK company but without prying eyes.

And what a complex web he weaves. At the heart are profit-making commercial schemes involving 12 different legal entities handling the unprecedented millions funnelled through a pair of "limited partnerships" - 'Windrush Ventures' and 'Firerush Ventures'.

The main vehicle, a so-called limited partnership, 'Windrush Ventures No 3 LP' consists on paper of a partnership between an entity owned by Blair himself and an anonymous off-the-shelf company. The Windrush structure pays for Blair's £560,000 a year lease on his Mayfair office.

While the law requires Blair to publish limited accounts for parts of the Windrush entities, the finances of the master-partnership remain a secret. But more than £6m has found its way down from the partnership into other companies.

Details of the full revenues remain hidden. At the centre are claims this gives Blair the advantage of an offshore "secrecy jurisdiction" while allowing him to state that he remains a regular, onshore, British taxpayer.

Blair could use these odd arrangements to transfer millions tax-free to his four children under an inheritance tax avoidance scheme, though Blair denies this.

However the ex-PM refuses to offer any explanation over why he is using the complex structures described by the Financial Times as "neither tax efficient nor managerially useful".

In 'Blair Enterprises', the structure is so artificial that in one part of it, Blair is, in effect, forming partnerships with himself. And one off-the-shelf company, merely called 'BDBCO No 819 Ltd' does not reveal its ownership on records at Companies House. Instead, its shares are listed as held by a second off-the-shelf entity, 'BDBCO No 822'.

The Orange Party can feel a headache coming on. And of course that's all part of the plan. Leave 'em shell-shocked with sham off-the-shelf shell companies.

But the plot thickens. Early last year Blair applied to set up the charity, the 'Tony Blair Africa Governance' initiative. But its application was not accepted until late in the year, partly amid concerns as to whether it was sufficiently separated from Blair's 'personal arrangements'.

So many complex tax dealings begs so many questions: Is Blair paying full UK tax on all overseas earnings? Are some companies in tax-havens, deliberately keeping client names secret? And what has Blair got to hide that he'd go to such extraordinary lengths and cost to keep his tax affairs so secret?

Warmongering Blair may have got away with his ill-gotten gains but the Orange Party feels it's time a forensic accountant took a fresh look at the legality of phoney baloney Blair's sordid shady tax dealings.

Blair wealth graphic: The Mail. Blair cash route graphic: The Guardian. Lower pictures: Private Eye covers 1154/1176.

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Tory Tax Break Or Election Bribe?

Tories have finally come out with a hard and fast economic 'promise' which they will have to keep - and deliver. 'Honest' Osborne is setting out his stall to scrap most of New Labour's planned NI tax hike. But is this a stealth tax break or pre-election bribe?

Spinners slamming Osborne as the 'weakest link' in the Tory team have been caught on the hop, with a big, bold move to seize the election agenda. This is a tax cut that most people would actually welcome as a breath of fresh air.

But the Tories first big tax-cutting 'pledge' in the run-up to the election is a gamble that could backfire and test their economic credibility.

Osborne is embarking on a risky strategy, notes The Times. Leaving Tories, who have long argued for 'austerity', wide open to attack, producing nothing more than a pre-election tax bribe. Much will depend on how the attack lines are drawn with the expected onslaught from both Downing Street and sworn Osborne media enemies.

But there's an election to be fought and won and a Channel 4 News TV 'battle of the wannabe chancellors' to get through. 'Honest' Osborne is set to square up to 'Dull' Darling and 'Not-so-saintly' Vince in an economic showdown. The timing of the move to block NI rises could not have been better if Tories had tried.

Describing New Labour's NI tax hike as "a tax on jobs and the middle classes", Osborne reckons seven out of 10 workers will be better off under Tory plans.

New Labour was caught with its pants down with clear blue water between the main parties. But chief secretary to the treasury, Byrne, got in early with the joke of the day: "They [the Conservatives] have entirely lost sight of cutting the deficit." How we laughed.

All a bit rich coming from Deceitful Darling's treasury, bent on fudging the 'deficit' with fantasy growth and rigged figures, leaving a mountain of 'debt' to fester behind.

Blocking most national insurance stealth tax rises is a welcome move. Business groups have long urged the government to scrap the rise, arguing it could screw up economic recovery, hit jobs and screw the labour market.

But what about the additional £8-10 billion a year in lost revenue?

At the heart are plans to cut the deficit and debt and cancel some pointless IT projects, with a promise to slash waste and cut the cost of procurement. The key is what gets the chop and what does not. And whether these come with the same 'promise' as the NI cut.

Porkie Brown's vague election 'pledges', gloriously spoofed opposite, had a shallow, hollow ring to them. The latest in a long line of lies after 13 long years of disaster and failure.

Tories are offering something solid - a tax cut paid for in part by squashing squandered billions - and something which voters can get their teeth into.

All part of that election battle between the lying Brown devil you know and the Dave you don't.

This is shaping up to be the mother of all elections - fought not on policy nor personality but on trust and honesty. And as always it's the economy, stupid.

Osborne has fired the latest salvo in that battle. Tonight's 'battle of the chancellors' is a chance to show if he can live up to being 'Honest Osborne' or set to regress to 'Boy George'.

Update 12.19pm: Osborne has targeted £12 billion of savings from New Labour's "economics of the madhouse" to help pay for the tax cuts.

Spoof New Labour Pledge Card: Ollie Cromwell.

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