So, sue me! ‘Horrid’ Miliband set to accept Fink challenge
After calling Cameron ‘a dodgy prime minister’, Labour leader ‘ready’ to risk libel action by Tory treasurer
Ed Miliband is ready to risk being sued for libel by repeating his accusation of “tax-dodging” against the Tory Party treasurer Lord Fink outside the protection of the Commons where he is covered by parliamentary privilege.
Lord Fink wrote to Miliband last night saying: “I challenge you to repeat your allegation outside the House of Commons – or to withdraw it publically.”
According to his aides, Miliband will pick up the gauntlet and - according to his aides - repeat the allegations in a speech in London today. It raises the intriguing prospect of a future prime minister being landed in the High Court after polling day.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In one of the stormiest sessions of Prime Minister's Questions in this parliament, Miliband mounted a ferocious personal attack on David Cameron for giving rewards to tax-avoiding Tory donors. He said Cameron was “bang to rights”, adding: “He can't get away from it – he's a dodgy Prime Minister, surrounded by dodgy donors...There's something rotten at the heart of the Tory Party and it's you.”
The Daily Mail reports that Cameron was overheard telling Conservative ministers as he left the Chamber: “Ed was personally horrid to me because he was losing.”
During the Commons exchanges, Miliband said: “Let’s take Stanley Fink who gave £3 million to the Conservative Party. He [Cameron] actually appointed him as Treasurer of the Tory Party and gave him a peerage for good measure.
“So now can he explain what steps he is going to take to find out about the tax avoidance activities of Lord Fink?”
In his letter, Lord Fink insisted he only opened an account with HSBC in Switzerland because he was working in Switzerland at the time for the Man Group, and it was not to avoid UK taxes.
Asked on Radio 4’s Today programme this morning whether Miliband's camp thought that Lord Fink had given a convincing answer to the allegations, Norman Smith, the BBC’s assistant political editor, said: “Convincing or not, Ed Miliband stands by them.
“More to the point, he is going to repeat them in public at a speech in London because they [Labour] take the view the allegations stack up, that Lord Fink was involved in tax avoidance activities.
"They believe his denial referred very specifically to his account with HSBC Swiss and there are questions about other accounts he holds.”
Any legal action against Miliband would likely depend on the actual terms the Labour leader uses in his speech today: ‘tax avoidance’ is not a criminal offence, though ‘tax evasion’ is. In the Commons, Miliband limited his charge against Lord Fink to tax avoidance with the use of an HSBC Swiss bank account.
But Miliband's attack puts the Conservative party’s attitude to tax avoidance - and Whitehall’s failure to probe HSBC’s complicity in tax avoidance - right at the heart of the election battle, according to The Guardian. Miliband may be happy to be sued to underline the point.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'A direct, protracted war with Israel is not something Iran is equipped to fight'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - April 17, 2024
Cartoons Wednesday's cartoons - political anxiety, jury sorting hat, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Arid Gulf states hit with year's worth of rain
Speed Read The historic flooding in Dubai is tied to climate change
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Is David Cameron overshadowing Rishi Sunak?
Talking Point Current PM faces 'thorny dilemma' as predecessor enjoys return to world stage
By The Week UK Published
-
Will Aukus pact survive a second Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question US, UK and Australia seek to expand 'game-changer' defence partnership ahead of Republican's possible return to White House
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Can Cameron put the Falklands sovereignty dispute to bed?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary says issue 'not up for discussion' ahead of visit amid renewed push from Argentina
By The Week UK Published
-
It's the economy, Sunak: has 'Rishession' halted Tory fightback?
Today's Big Question PM's pledge to deliver economic growth is 'in tatters' as stagnation and falling living standards threaten Tory election wipeout
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Will America recognize a Palestinian state?
Today's Big Question Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu opposes the move. Some see it as the only route to peace.
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Fasting to burger buffets: the weird and wonderful diets of politicians
Why Everyone's Talking About Rishi Sunak reportedly starts his week with a 36-hour fast
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Why your local council may be going bust
The Explainer Across England, local councils are suffering from grave financial problems
By The Week UK Published
-
Rishi Sunak and the right-wing press: heading for divorce?
Talking Point The Telegraph launches 'assault' on PM just as many Tory MPs are contemplating losing their seats
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published