labour auctioned off the Hutton report signed by Cherie to raise funds

[zippitippitoes]

...bad taste isn't it?

\link{http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,,1782061,00.html\ story here}

That is absolutely disgraceful.

I'm disgusted.

It's not like they're a pop group signing their latest offering in HMV, FFS.

They're claiming no-one knew it was for a fund-raising event. Why the hell did Cherie Blair and Alastiar Campbell's lift their pens up, then?

Or do they just go around signing random documents?!!

Makes me want to puke. Poor David Kelly's family. The circumstances of his death were bad enough, without this crap rubbing salt into the wound.

I thought this really was crass of Cherie Blair to be honest. I normally don't tend to carp about partners of public figures, but this shocked me.

It's beyond crass, creating a macabre keepsake of the whole sorry affair.

She needs to make a public apology again but what could she possibly say to excuse it other than "we don't personally give a hoot about the tragic death of David Kelly or my husband's role therein so we kind of forgot that anyone else would - Oops sorry"

Sometimes that woman is beyond belief, perhaps her true class shows through the shiny middle-class front of New Labour a little too much at times.

I'm feeling quite speechless really. What sort of atmosphere must have been in the room when it was auctioned, who could conceive the idea and who condone it?

The person who bid the highest amount at auction should then set fire to it in front of her to remove it from circulation. Hope someone has the common sense to do this

Speaking as someone whose ancestors would roll in their graves if I voted anything other than Labour, I can't express how utterly sick and disgusted I feel at this story.

My ancestors can roll all they like, cos after this, I'm never voting for 'em again.

I'm still trying to work out how someone could have any part in it..it raises serious questions for me

I think this raises serious questions about the ethics and morality of anyone who had anything to do with it. I think CB and AC should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves and I can't begin to understand what David Kelly's family must be going through.

It is a truly despicable episode.

Sick fucks.

She's a twat.

(scuse language)

but what about Alistair Campbell then..what was he thinking? And the senior labour party folk who were there?

I'm so angry about this.

Losing someone to suicide is horrendous and this family have had their noses rubbed in it by these tossers.

I think it was a totally outrageous thing to do. For a lawyer she has very bad judgement.

But then I think all political fundraising (i.e. raising funds for their own party) is horrendous - it offends me for some reason!

Thia is horrendous i'm and

Sorry to rant but I'm still fuming about this one. I can't figure out the process through which those two signatures ended up on this document.

Could understand if it was a Labour manifesto....but a report into a man's suicide..?!

And for Tony to say 'no offence was intended' is arrogant beyond belief.

If David Kelly was my husband or father, I can't say my response to this would be so dignified as theirs is (i.e. 'we feel this is out of our hands and can't comment on it'.)

you and me both

Maybe she had been given a pile of things to sign for the auction (perhaps by a devious colleague) and absent mindedly put her signature to this document along with the others.

That being the case it would be clumsy rather than 'offensive', 'sick', 'disgusting', 'disgraceful' etc.

Shouldn't these words be saved for real villians?

I normally agree with you..but in this cas I don't..

she's a legal bod - if she doesn't know by now not to sign things she hasn't read/looked at then heaven help us

besides, I'm sure she knew what she was doing (but didn't think of the implications)

I'm sort of playing devil's advocate. However I do believe the woman is a fool, but she's not evil.

she has made a very poor judgement..and she is in one of the worst positions in the country to make it

Cherie is not an evil villain. But the facts are;

1. A report was commissioned to explore the reasons for a man’s suicide.
2. A copy of that report came to have two signatures, nay, autographs on it. IMHO, that is disgusting as it defaces the report, its contents and its political significance.
3. That report is then auctioned to raise funds for political purposes. If that’s not sick then I don’t know what is. If the same thing had happened in a third world or undeveloped country with notoriously corrupt leadership, we’d all be throwing our hands in the air, banning our sportsmen from going etc etc.
4. The spouse of one of the signatories, who also happens to be the Prime Minister, then says that the actions outlines above were not meant to casue offence. The arrogance of this statement disgusts me.

I don’t care who Cherie gets to buy her properties or how much her hairdresser costs. But her actions show a complete lack of regard for the person referred to in the report, as well as their family and I find that unacceptable from someone who should know better.

I might be wrong, but have a feeling the early evening news showed a clip of her signing it. Was otherwise occupied at the time, so can't be entirely sure that she was actually caught on camera in the act, but it did stop me in my tracks at the time by virtue of its breath-taking crassness.

Watch 10pm news to find out.

I might be wrong, but have a feeling the early evening news showed a clip of her signing it. Was otherwise occupied at the time, so can't be entirely sure that she was actually caught on camera in the act, but it did stop me in my tracks at the time by virtue of its breath-taking crassness.

Watch 10pm news to find out.

That is completely sick, and adds insult to the considerable injury already inflicted on the Kellys.

am really and disgusted at that.