Michael Levy, Baron Levy
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Michael Abraham Levy, Baron Levy (born 11 July 1944) is a Labour member of the British House of Lords and a major fundraiser for the UK Labour party and several Jewish and Israeli charities. A long-standing friend of the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, Lord Levy has acted as his special envoy to the Middle East since 2002. Levy has praised Blair for his "solid and committed support of the State of Israel" [1]. Levy was arrested in connection to the "cash for peerages" inquiry by the Metropolitan Police on 12 July 2006 and returned on bail the following day for further questioning.
Early life
Born in Hackney, East London, to Jewish immigrant parents of modest means, Levy was educated at Hackney Downs Grammar School, making his fortune during the 1960s and 1970s as an impresario, managing singers such as Alvin Stardust and Chris Rea. He founded Magnet Records, the home of the popular 1970s/80s ska band Bad Manners.
Political life
A resident of Mill Hill and close friend and tennis partner of Tony Blair, Levy ran the Labour Leader's Office Fund to finance Blair's campaign before the 1997 General Election and received substantial contributions from such figures as Alex Bernstein and Robert Gavron, both of whom were ennobled by Blair after he came to power. Levy himself was made a life peer in 1997 as Baron Levy, of Mill Hill in the London Borough of Barnet.
He is a supporter of Labour Friends of Israel and has been described by The Jerusalem Post as "undoubtedly the notional leader of British Jewry". [2].
Known as "Lord Cashpoint" to some in the media and politics, he is a leading fundraiser for the Labour Party. In 1997, Levy secured a £1m donation to Labour from Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone. Shorty after, the government changed its policy to allow Formula One to continue being sponsored by tobacco manufacturers. The subsequent furore prompted the Labour Party to return the donation.
In 2000, Levy was criticised when it was revealed that he had paid only £5,000 tax during the financial year 1998–99—equivalent to that paid on a salary of £21,000. In an interview at the time, repeated on BBC2's Newsnight on 16 March 2006, Levy stated that "Over the years I have paid many millions of tax. And, if you average it, each year it comes to many hundreds of thousands of pounds. In that particular year, I was giving my time to the Labour Party and the voluntary sector, and I just lived off of capital."
Since 2002, he has acted as the Prime Minister's personal envoy to the Middle East. Sir Christopher Meyer, former British Ambassador to Washington, has said that that the Saudi and Jordanian royal families told him Levy was "not terribly welcome in their countries; and that he was received only out of friendship for Tony Blair." He was also criticised in Sir Christopher's memoirs for his pretensions and over-playing his expectations (e.g. of meetings with high-level US Administration officials)[3].
In September 2005, Levy was appointed President of the Council of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, the body overseeing the government's Specialist schools and Academy programmes.
On 12 July, 2006, Lord Levy was arrested and later released on bail, in connection with Scotland Yard's investigation into the "Cash for Peerages" controversy. In March 2006, it was revealed that the Labour party had raised £14 million in loans from private individuals, some of whom were later nominated for peerages. Unlike political donations, that are governed by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 or PPERA, loans made on a commercial basis do not have to be declared.
He has indicated that he will stop his fundraising activities for the Labour Party when Blair leaves office and has now advocated state funding of political parties.
Personal
Lord Levy is a pre-eminent fundraiser for charity. He is president of Jewish Care, an amalgam of Jewish charitable organizations, and a member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the leadership of UK Jewish community. Simon Morris, director of Jewish Care, said of Levy that, when it comes to fundraising, "there's no one better in the country."
Levy's house was burgled in 2003 while he was out. His wife was tied up during the ordeal and was reported to be "very shaken" for a number of weeks afterwards.
His son, Daniel Levy, is active in Israeli political life, and serves as an assistant to Knesset member Yossi Beilin. Amongst other activities, he drafted the controversial Geneva Accord, which attempted to bypass the democratically elected government by offering an alternative foreign policy agreement.
References
- ^ Jewish Care, Fundraising Dinner 2006
- ^ "Michael Levy: Lord Cashpoint", The Independent, 18 March 2006
- ^ Meyer reveals 'Blair's pygmies', The Guardian, 8 November, 2005
External links
- BBC News Labour fundraiser Levy arrested, July 12, 2006
- "Taking It On Trust" - discussion of Lord Levy's role in the Labour Leader's Office Fund and other fundraising for Labour
- "Lord Levy: a man with a talent for squeezing cheques out of wallets", The Guardian, 17 March 2006
- Lord Levy: Labour's Fund-raiser, BBC, 17 March 2006
- "There was once a jolly bagman", The Observer, 19 March 2006
